sunday, bloody sunday
by AnonRyder23
Summary: Anna did what she could for her own survival, and ended up in an ill-fated relationship with a cannibal. When a chance at doing something right and earning a little bit of redemption she so craves, she snatches at it. But with death around every corner and bloody hands clawing down her door, how long can she fight a losing battle?
1. ONE

_Anna did what she could for her own survival, and ended up in an ill-fated relationship with a cannibal._

_When a chance at doing something right and earning a little bit of redemption she so craves, she snatches at it. _

_But with death around every corner and bloody hands clawing down her door, how long can she fight a losing battle?_

slight Gareth / OC

* * *

**ONE:**

The group of Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and Bob were kneeling in front of the trough, their blood about to be spilled into it like others before them. The bodies next to Glenn were limp, blood done coming from their throats and down the chute. Their throats were slit as if they were animals.

And, perhaps, in this situation they _were_ only cattle.

The butcher stood at the side with a baseball bat in hand, his assistant next to him. Gareth stood with a clipboard in his hands, in front of the group, checking off things and making sure things were in order.

The group was hunched over the dirty trough, bound and gagged. Glenn was up next, and they started to feel defeat settle into their bones. Bob, at the other end beside Rick, was screaming through his gag, trying to get somebody to listen.

That was when a woman walked through the far door. Everyone turned to the blonde, whose eyes had widened when she entered. Her blue pools of ocean caught Rick's gaze and they stared at each other for a moment before she looked at Gareth.

She had never witnessed how the _food_ came to her plate, and she never did wish to witness it. She ate and bared it, knowing that a disgusted look would put her on the chopping block. Not to mention, if she ever wished to run away—she dared not even think of it.

"Gareth?" came her soft voice through chapped lips, her hands twitching for the knife or gun on her hip; a strike of humanity pulsing through her, but her hands returned to their sides on the instinct of survival.

Her voice sounded broken, weak, questioning. And above all, doubtful.

The group may have never known, as it was only a whisper in Terminus itself. No one announced it, because in this day and age, it didn't need to be announced. Gareth and the unidentified female had been lovers—were still lovers.

It started for her own survival, when at her month mark at Terminus she didn't know if she could take eating _humans_ any longer. She had hoped that Gareth would develop feelings for her and he would let his guard down.

This was not the case, because now, he looked out for her; loved her like a man should. And she would be lying if she said she didn't have her own feelings.

Gareth sighed, "Anna—"

The woman—Anna— raised an eyebrow, her lips forming a frown.

Gareth was about to respond, give her an excuse and send her away, but an explosion interrupted him from doing so.

Anna's head snapped in the direction of the noise, eyes flickering over the windows and finding no explanation.

"Stay here!" Gareth ordered her, before turning to a few others in the room. "Go! Find what's wrong!"

Gareth and the others he had ordered left, leaving the group, the butcher and his assistant, and Anna alone.

Anna bit her lip, eyes squinting in concentration. This act caused Rick to look at her curiously, but his underlying rage forced him to give the others a look.

She did not want these people to die, and now was her chance at some kind of redemption. She felt like an awful person for being a reason people had to _die_ to _feed_ her. Anna felt sick, her stomach churning and threatening to spill her breakfast all over the concrete floor.

Her mind had made a decision, but that didn't stop her heart from hurting. She forced herself to shake it off.

This was _the right _thing to do.

"Mark," started Anna, drawing the attention from everyone in the room. "I never really liked you."

Her voice sounded so plain, but so threatening. It had a poisonous bite to it, and for a second she looked like a viper ready to strike; her sharp features only adding to the deadliness in her expression. Mark had always made Anna feel uncomfortable, and whenever they spoke it often left a sour taste in her mouth.

Mark only had time to look Anna in the eye before her hand was at her hip. There was a blur after she grabbed her knife and in the next second, Mark was on the ground with a knife between his eyes.

The group stared at the body, then at Anna, mostly in bewilderment.

The assistant dropped his bat and went for the gun in his belt, but Anna was too fast for him. Her own pistol was in her hand and she fired, killing him.

Although Anna had never been great with guns since this whole thing went down, Gareth had been training her. That was probably the only reason she got her target; and it was ironic that it was the very skill that Gareth taught her that killed one of his men.

Anna lowered the gun, placing it back in its holster. She raced over and grabbed her knife from Mark's skull. She looked over at Rick, who had an Alpha-Male aura about him that made Anna assume he was their leader. She stepped closer, cautiously.

The people couldn't have been happy.

"I'm going to cut the binds." Anna told them steadily, her hands slightly raised.

She cut Rick's first, which allowed him to remove his gag, and then she quickly went down the rest of the line. She gazed sadly at the people she could not help, since she had arrived too late.

Rick, now, on his feet got defensive. The three other people-Daryl, Glenn and Bob-went to stand behind him. They stared at her, untrustingly.

"Look," she started, knowing full well she didn't deserve their trust yet; yet she unholstered her gun and handed it over to Rick in a manner of good faith. "I really don't wanna be here; it's wrong what they're doing. I could never leave because they'd catch me. I'll help you if you help me."

Rick frowned, playing with the gun in his hands. Daryl had went to grab the guns Mark and his assistant had, keeping one for himself and handing the other to Glenn.

"You have no reason to trust me." Anna said seriously. "But I can lead you out of here."

"Take us to our weapons and the train car we were in and you have a deal." Rick told her, the gun in his hand going to his side.

"Deal." she affirmed with a nod, shaking Rick's hand.


	2. TWO

**TWO:**

Anna flipped her knife in her hand, scanning a quick look over the group again before starting for the door. She knew she was going to have to act quickly and smartly if she was going to get both herself and the group out alive.

They ran down the hallway, towards where the weapons were usually stored. When Anna peered into the room she caught sight of one of Gareth's men-Joe-rushing towards her.

"Anna! What are you-" he was cut off by the knife being thrown at his throat.

"Didn't like you either." admitted Anna, pulling the knife from his throat with a cringe.

Rick cast a sideways glance at her, and Daryl did the same, only Daryl raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak.

"Did you like anyone?" came Daryl's voice.

Anna looked over her shoulder at him before shrugging, "Not really. You do what you can to survive."

Daryl 'humphed' before Anna gestured to the weapons.

"Get what you need and let's go." Anna took a fearful glance at the side door, hoping no one would enter.

Everyone grabbed what was theirs and a few more things, before Anna led them outside.

What laid before her was a terrifying sight. Dead were walking inside the place she once thought was a sanctuary but ended up as a prison. Fires were raging up from different things and she caught sight of men racing about killing both the dead or escapees.

"This way." Anna whispered, jogging down towards the shadow of the buildings, knowing that it would be harder to spot them.

They killed what they met, having to duck at some points because more gunfire rang out, directed at the moving bodies.

"Shit." Anna suddenly cursed, her stomach falling into nervous knots. "I have to go get something. Continue down this path and you'll come across the train car. I wish you luck and maybe we'll meet again."

Anna gave them no time to respond before she crouched and ran back the way they had come, dodging the light to avoid being seen.

She made her way back into the building and towards the stairwell, where she was about to start running up when a voice stopped her.

"Anna!" It was Gareth, and he sounded relieved. "They didn't get you yet."

She turned on her heel, guilt building inside her heart. Here was the man she had betrayed for a bunch of strangers.

"Yeah," she was able to get out, her throat tightening. "they didn't get me yet."

Gareth smiled, and gave her a quick hug and kiss on the temple. "That group?"

Anna flushed, eyes darting away from his in attempt to come up with a lie. "There was a scream. I went to investigate. When I came back they were gone and Mark and Jay were dead."

Gareth frowned, his dark eyes hardening. "I won't let them take this place."

Anna nodded silently, unsure of to stay or to run. A part of her screamed to run up that staircase and get what she came in for and the other part insisted that she shouldn't move. Her mind swirled, unsure of what to do.

"I know." Anna swallowed thickly, her eyes finally meeting his. "I trust you."

Gareth's frown was replaced by a grin. It seemed that from the beginning he had gained her trust, and he took pride in have it; especially in this crazy mess of a world.

Suddenly, Anna threw her arms around Gareth's neck, holding him close. She tried not to cry, to keep her tears within herself as it would just give her away. She blinked hard, and only her glassy eyes were evidence of her tears.

"I love you, Gareth." she whispered into his neck, holding him tighter as if he would fade away.

Her situation was not any better, as she would lose Gareth in running away. She hated herself for it, but she also thankful that she was leaving Terminus. Besides Gareth, it had done nothing but bad things for her.

Confused, and mistaking her tenderness as fear, he whispered, "I love you, too, Annabelle."

Anna took a step back, looking into his eyes. With one shred of courage left, she kissed him full on the mouth, with all the love for him she could muster.

She knew she would have to let go.

Gareth pulled away first, and put their foreheads together. "We'll get through this."

Anna managed a small smile, not doubting him. "I know."

They stood together for a moment more before they regained a sense of what was going on around them.

"I'm going to get Jenny." said Anna, taking a step towards the stairs. "I'll meet up with you later." she lied.

Gareth nodded. "Stay safe."

"You, too."

And they parted ways, Gareth running towards the other end to get more weapons and to get to the rooftop and Anna to get Jenny.


	3. THREE

**THREE:**

Anna checked Jenny's room first, and thankfully the teenager was there, huddled in a corner. Jenny's arms were wrapped around her legs and she jumped when the door opened. These actions made Anna realize Jenny was terrified.

"Jenny?" Anna called quietly, crouching down so she didn't appear intimidating or scary.

Jenny looked up, blood smeared on her face which made Anna's heart nearly stop in worry. Jenny, as far as Anna knew, was very anal about being as clean as she could and this dirty mark made Anna's fear rise from zero to sixty.

"I-I'm sorry." Jenny cried in a tight voice, tears slipping down her cheeks and slightly smearing the blood.

Anna raised her eyebrows, and kneeled down in front of her. "Why?"

"I shouldn't have left!" Jenny sobbed. "I went outside, when I heard that explosion. Dead everywhere-I couldn't stop them!"

Anna's eyes widened, scanning the teenager's body. "Please, Jenny, are you-"

Jenny erupted in a new fit of tears, hiding her face in her knees again. Her arms tightened around her legs, almost defensively and Anna's breath caught when she saw the blood.

With strong hands, Anna ripped Jenny's arms away from her legs and pushed her legs down. This revealed more of her shirt, which was soaked in blood. Anna clenched her jaw and lifted Jenny's shirt just enough to show that she had been bitten.

Anna had an inkling when Jenny admitted she was sorry, but that didn't stop her from gasping and nearly falling backwards.

"Anna, please!" Jenny reached out to grab Anna's hands, but Anna merely stared, alarmed at them.

This was the girl Anna had saved before she arrived at Terminus. This was the girl Anna brought with her because she believed it was a sanctuary.

And now that was all slipping through her fingers.

Anna, horrified and overwhelmed, stared at the young girl. Her face was very pale now, Anna noticed, and even her usual pink lips seemed to have become paper white. And her eyes-oh her once bright green eyes-stared dully back at her, losing their once bright nature.

Anna swallowed, "Let's go."

"No, Anna, you have to kill me! Please, don't let me-"

"I won't kill you!" Anna growled at her, her eyebrows furrowing. "You'll be fine."

Even Anna knew that was a lie.

"It wasn't supposed to come to this," Jenny sniffled. "but since it has, I want it to be you, Anna."

Tears leaked from Anna's eyes, falling without permission down her cheeks. She opened her mouth momentarily, but nothing formed on her tongue and she was left with no words for Jenny.

"Anna,"

"I-I can't. Don't make me-"

"It's gotta be you." Jenny took a long, labored breath, her face greatly pained.

There was a ruckus outside, and heavy footfalls approaching. Fear ebbed to Anna's mind and seeped into her rationality and rendered her completely still.

Even when the door opened, and Jenny looked up fearfully, Anna did not move. There was a quiet gasp, and then a gun cocking.

That was when Anna's head snapped to the side to see Chris-one of Gareth's men-aim his gun. Before Anna could protest, the gun had went off and Anna turned in just enough time to see Jenny's head whip back and blood to splatter, covering Anna's face, neck and arms.

Anna's mouth opened, but it popped closed and she stood up fast. In the next second, her knife was in her hand and she stabbed Chris with it.

"You bastard!" Anna cried, tears freely streaming now, and she let out a savage yell as she thrust the knife back into Chris' throat.

They both fell to the ground in the doorway, but Anna didn't let up. Like some kind of wild animal, she kept going at it, stabbing Chris in every which way she could; his eyes, neck, chest, and anywhere else she could reach as she straddled over him, yelling with each blow.

Chris was dead, he had been dead when he hit the floor, but either Anna didn't notice or didn't care.

When her hand got tired, she threw her knife aside-blaming it- and grabbed the one in the back of her belt and started fresh. But this time, she had to use both hands to thrust the knife into his body, and since she had stabbed him so many times, she started hitting already opened wounds.

Her hands was shaking, and a painful buzz had started in them, and she was out of breath. She dropped the knife, and with tired arms starting hitting his chest, angry and sad. She stopped and gave a heart wrenching yell, that hurt both her lungs and vocal cords.

Anna's head fell to Chris' chest, her breathing heavy at best. With her head on Chris's chest, blood was being smeared all over her body, but she seemed far away in her mind, remember the better days. But even they were plagued when the dead entered her mind and killed any dream she ever had.

She could cry no longer, her body could not allow it. This left her eyes red, puffy and itchy, but she ignored that and her painful hands.

Pushing off Chris' chest, she cast a look at what was left of him. He was no longer recognizable, and if she hadn't been the one to do it to him, she would have never known what he looked like. He was mangled, his upper body a bloody mess of flesh, blood and torn clothing.

Anna, with a posture that would have suggested she was dead, walking over to Jenny and fell to her knees. With no tears left, she simply held Jenny in her arms and mourned.

* * *

When Anna could no longer just stare at the wall in front of her, she made her way to her feet. With weak arms, she scooped Jenny into her arms and placed her upon her bed. She pulled up the blanket, until it was to her neck, kissed her temple and turned away.

She grabbed the knife she had thrown and the one she had dropped and put them back. She messily cleaned her hands and face with Jenny's towel. She grabbed Chris' gun, threw the strap over her shoulder and spat on his body before stepping over it with utmost disrespect for his remains.

With blank and tired eyes, she walked down the hall and to the back stairwell. Fire had engulfed the one side and she had no other choice.

Anna hoped that the group was still here, and that she could catch up, but this other part told her she should care; that she should just run and never look back.

However, Anna found the group of the four men now with a bunch of others running towards a side gate. She didn't think twice and rushed after them.

Rick, while scanning over the dead, spotted her running to them. For a moment he wanted to kill her, but decided since she saved them deserved at least a plea for why he shouldn't. He took notice, though, to her crimson soaked clothes, red splattered neck and red smeared face.

He didn't have to guess to know what it was.


	4. FOUR

**FOUR:**

Anna caught up to the back of the group, and though some looked at her strangely, none moved to shoot her.

"Up and over!" Rosita shouted, and the group complied.

Rick stayed behind and waited until Anna reached him. He gave her a stern, if-looks-could-kill glare before he started to turn around. He ushered her towards the gate and spun around when he heard gunfire.

Gareth was on the rooftop, shooting down at them, and he just caught sight of Anna climb up and over the gate. Rick shot at them and forced them to duck and cover and when Gareth looked back up, they were gone.

* * *

Anna and the rest of the group ran into the woods, and stopped to walk when they were a decent ways away. Anna didn't care to know where they were leading her, as long as it was away.

She was numb in the moment, Jenny's words echoing in her head and she hung her head ashamed she had not killed her before Chris could. Jenny had wanted her to do it and Anna could not even give her that.

"Right here." said Daryl, causing Anna to look up and then at what they were doing.

They had buried guns and some supplies, and they were taking them. She mentally praised they had thought it through.

"Who the hell is this?" Abraham wondered, an angry tone in his voice, yet to Anna he was only the red-headed man who had helped her over the gate.

Since Anna had not opened her mouth, Rick supplied, "She saved us when we were taken away."

"Why? Aren't you one of them?" Maggie asked her.

"I couldn't leave, even when I most desperately wanted to. To be one of them, I would have to be a killer guard in the makeup of that prison. I was merely a silent hostage that feared for her own life, which is why I forced myself to keep quiet and stay." Anna told them in a quiet voice.

"Wait," Abraham started, turning to glare at her. "When we first got here, I saw you with Gareth."

Anna squinted, her face becoming hard, and she opened her mouth to tell them all a half-lie, half-truth. "You do what you can to survive."

And she had been just surviving at first, but that bloody, thorned rose bloomed into something more.

Her answer caused Abraham to frown, Daryl to look at Rick, who looked at her with hard eyes. He wished she would unravel before them, and show them if she was worth trust or not. However, with little knowledge of her, he decided it would just be safe to not trust her and keep a careful eye on her for now.

"Go along the fences, take out the rest of 'em." Rick told the group, digging. "They don't get to live."

Anna's eyes snapped up from the ground. She didn't have to think hard to know what he meant, but she was curious if he meant her or not. Anna knew, first hand, that groups became close and sometimes, anyone who dared harm or get in their way was as good as dead.

It was Glenn who spoke up. "We got out, Rick. It's over."

"It's not over 'til they're all dead."

"The hell it isn't. That place is on fire." Rosita stepped up. "Full of Walkers."

"Just let it burn." Anna tried, wanting to be as far from this place as possible. It was filled with too many bad memories, and it only seemed to bring out the bad in her.

"We just made it out."

"The fences are down." said Maggie. "They'll run or die."

A woman came from the trees and approached them. To Anna she was just a woman with short grey hair, but to the rest of them, it was Carol.

Daryl ran and hugged her tight and the rest stepped forward with smiling faces.

This was Anna's chance to run, but instead she didn't move. These people seemed good enough, and she wanted to earn their trust to get what they had; she wanted to become part of the group, part of their little family.

With staying, Anna found out it had been this grey haired woman-later she learned her name-had been the one who caused the explosion. She was both happy because she got away and sad because that had been the first domino leading up to Jenny's death.

Then Carol led them to the cabin, where Tyreese and Judith were waiting. But with the travel there, Anna smeared blood over the signs leading people to the "sanctuary" of Terminus. Rick watched, perplexed, before handing her a spray can, where she wrote "no" above sanctuary and then spray painted over the map.

There, Anna learned more, that there was a baby; a little, innocent life in this effed up world. As the baby was in Rick's arms, their eyes caught and Anna swore she saw the spark of innocent she had once seen in Jenny's eyes. She swore, in the moment, to protect that spark.

* * *

The group was now walking through the woods, Anna walking beside Rick. This wasn't coincidence because Rick wanted to keep watch of her, and Daryl was right behind her and Michonne was off to the one side and Abraham to the other.

This didn't go unnoticed by Anna, and she was well aware of what they were doing and that her every move was being watched. It took everything in her bones to not grab her knife and scream.

She strode to walk in pace with Rick, whose longer legs gave him an advantage. She glared at him from the corner of her eyes, not exactly meeting his but enough to show that she was not pleased.

Anna wondered, though, walking beside Rick, what their next step was and how she was involved, if at all.

The roof over her head was gone and she was left, again, in the harshness of the wind and the reality that no one was really fond of her. She had been on her own before, but she had become accustomed to the routine at Terminus and everything that wasn't routine was strange and new again.

She didn't entirely like it, but she knew she would have to tough through to be considered a member of Rick's group.

"Where are we going?" Anna asked Rick, her tone direct yet whispered.

Rick pointed in front of them. "That way."

Anna frowned at his answer and decided he didn't know much more than she did in that moment. She sighed and her hand started reaching for the gun in the back of her belt—for its reassurance — but Rick's eyes snapped to hers and the people around her stiffened.

She swallowed, annoyed and put her hand back at her side.

That was when a scream echoed through the trees, causing Anna's hair to stand on end.

"Help! Someone help me!"

Before she knew what she was doing, Anna started running after the cry for help, with no regard for the people around her.

Some of the group went to follow, but Rick stopped them with a gesture of his hand. Carl frowned up at his dad.

"We help people." said Carl in a plain voice, watching Anna's retreating figure.

"Carl—"

"No, Dad."

Rick frowned, but nodded at his son. At this action, the group started after Anna and the scream.


	5. FIVE

**Thank you Prettyprincess45** **and a guest for reviewing. I'm so glad I'm doing this okay and that you both like it. And thank you for your kind words.**

* * *

**FIVE:**

Anna was sprinting, running with all she had. She almost appeared to be flying across the dead leaves and fallen branches. Her eyes were wild and fierce, a determined glint in them.

The group was not very far behind, racing to catch up since she had gotten the head start.

The screaming and cries for help continued, only fueling Anna across the forest and around trees. Racing around a rock, she could see a man, in a priest outfit. He was on a large rock, with Walkers all around, trying to feed.

Still running towards them, she grabbed her knife and threw it, and when it made its mark she reached for her other and thrust it into one Walker's skull that had gotten too close. She then killed the third and was pulling the other knife from the skull when the group rounded the corner.

Anna wiped her brow with the back of her hand, turned and sent a glare Rick's way for not backing her up quicker and then looked to the priest.

He was staring at Anna with utmost horror, like she herself was a monster.

And seeing that look in his eye, Anna decided to not help him down; however, she was still glad she had helped him.

Maybe it would give her good karma.

Anna chuckled at the absurd thought, and decided that her wishful thinking meant nothing in the world they were living in. Yet, she did hope for a little luck; luck could go a long way for her.

The priest swallowed, and helped himself down. He dusted his hands off and then looked up at the group, glancing carefully at the panting blonde with wild sapphire eyes.

"I'm Father Gabriel."

They went on to discuss why he was out in the woods by himself and he said he was running out of food and needed more.

Rick, taking precautions, told Father Gabriel to bring them to wherever he was held up. Sighing, the Father gave in and started to lead them back.

Anna, as she had been before, was herded in between Rick, Daryl and Abraham, being forced to walk near Father Gabriel at the front.

She guessed it was for their own protection that she faced the danger first, so either they could get away or gather a quick plan to kill whoever or whatever they encountered.

Anna, both bored and not interested in what the Father was saying started to clink her knives together.

Father Gabriel paused in what he was saying to stare at her for a moment, purely uneasy in her presence, before resuming once more. And perhaps, he had the right to feel uneasy around her, since she had been eating human flesh for almost a year but he didn't need to know that detail.

He was already frightened of her.

Anna stared right back, sending a chill down Father Gabriel's spine. He quickly looked away.

Rick caught up to Anna to walk right beside her, and for a few paces all they did was stare at each other.

Rick's eyes were challenging, Anna's saying "Gotta problem? Come at me!"

After leaving Terminus, Anna's self-confidence went up a notch and her ferocity emerged.

Rick went to grab the knives, to stop their constant clanking, but Anna twisted away from his reach. She then started throwing the knives at trees and grabbing them as she passed.

Turning to look at Rick, she raised an eyebrow, as if saying "What're you gonna do about it?"

This caused Rick to frown at her, which clearly said loud and clear that he was done dealing with her childish acts. Carl acted better than she did.

Feeling singled out, Anna frowned and looked away, placing her knives in their holders.

Rick turned his attention back to Father Gabriel, and the trees opened up into a path and a church that looked boarded up.

Some of the group members nodded in a little approval. It was something and something was all they needed right now.

* * *

Inside, it was revealed that Father Gabriel did have at least a little food and the group had no troubles starting to cook it-most of it.

Anna stared at the group, taking the cans of food and preparing it to be eaten. She noticed some of them sit down on the benches and take a breather; she noticed that they were all relaxed.

And that stirred up weird emotions within her; it was almost like the world was normal.

Too caught up in her thoughts, she did not see Rick approach her with a hard expression. Nor did she notice Daryl tighten his grip on his crossbow and watch as Rick went to her.

However, her attention was caught when Rick grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side, where no one could hear.

Caught off guard, and highly annoyed, Anna scowled at Rick; a distaste rolling over her taste buds and her eyes to squint in an angry manner.

"What's your issue?" she hissed, practically toe-to-toe with the leader of the group she had gotten her way into.

"Look, I don't trust you, and I certainly don't trust you around the group—"

Anna went to make a 'No shit, Sherlock' remark, but Rick hushed her rudely.

"—but I'm willing to let you into this group. But, so help me, if you harm or steal from us in any way, I won't hesitate to kill you with my bare hands."

Anna raised her eyebrows, quite surprised both by Rick's tone and that he had been so blunt. It took her off guard, although, she knew she didn't deserve their trust.

She'd eaten human meat, for Heaven's sake!

Yet, she wasn't entirely expecting the harshness.

Anna recoiled, as if she'd been slapped, before returning her gaze to Rick with a disgusted face. She wanted to hit him and run, as she hadn't been used to unkind words being said to her in such a long time. Considering Gareth was the leader of Terminus, people regarded her with respect and smiles.

"I didn't expect you to." she snapped, irritated.

"However, you helped us, which is why you get this chance. But you take advantage of that-"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." Anna resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Rick sighed, before staring at Anna, trying to figure her out. It had been hard, since she kept mostly to herself, and he was surprised about how angry she was underneath her pretty face.

With Rick staring at her, she wanted to snap at him, but finally looked into his eyes. At first, she saw distrust and the need to protect those he cared about, but for some reason, she looked harder and passed the first few layers that had been put upon him when the whole thing went down.

Inside those clear pools of blue was a man that had a real life before all this; a man who had been thrust into leadership because he was willing to take it.

However, she looked away, down to the floor, ashamed she had tried to look further. She had only ever looked at Gareth that way and the guilt of leaving him crashed over her like a tidal wave. She cringed internally, sickened by her actions.

But she was doing it in the name of her own survival and in the name of her moral standards that had been pushed away with Gareth's charming smile.

She loved him, but hated his choices.

For so long she looked passed them, because she honestly loved him—with all she had, and he was all she had left in the world, after the death of Jenny— and believed he was trying, but it was time for her to leave.

It was time for her to find herself again after it was lost in the mess of blood and death.


	6. SIX

**Thank you guest (Jofrench22) for review on the last chapter!  
**

* * *

**SIX:**

In her attempt to step in the new direction of life she wished to head, she started conversations with those around her. They were new people, and seemed like the decent kind, so she decided to stay as long as she could.

When she got food to eat, after it was done cooking, she looked around her to all the smiling and laughing faces. They were tightly knitted together, creating a family-like atmosphere that Anna felt like she didn't belong to.

She took a seat next to a man much like herself, outcasted, reserved from the rest. He turned to look at her, his dark eyes piercing her baby blues that were far from innocent. A moment of silence passed between them, and a sense of understanding came soon after.

They ate silently, side-by-side before Anna turned to ask his name. But before they question passed her lips he answered her.

"Eugene Porter,"

"Anna."

Her last name was lost when the world went to hell, and she didn't feel like owning what she once was in a new world where the weak were sent to slaughter. Her past self was weak, and wouldn't have been able to live in a world like this. She shed her thin, weak skin when she was savagely attacked for supplies and what laid beneath had been building since it started. What emerged was a thicker skin and the desire to defend herself.

Not long after, she found Jenny and then Terminus, and then ultimately Gareth.

Anna really didn't really believe in destiny, but if there was anything to describe her finding Gareth in this great big world, it had to be fate.

Eugene nodded and went back to his food, staring at the people in strong conversation. Anna's gaze found Rick, or more specifically, the baby she learned was named Judith. She watched as Rick fed Judith, and laughed along with some of the others causing Judith to smile.

That smile made Anna react in the same way everyone else did, to crack a grin.

Rick caught Anna staring at Judith, and was about to get defensive, but he noticed her facial expression. Not blank or hard or angry, as he was used to, instead her pretty face was in a happy smile that should have appeared on her face more.

However, Anna looked away and down at her plate. She was hungry—absolutely starving, and the fact that this dinner contained no traces of human filled her with satisfaction— yet she couldn't help but move things around on her plate.

She wanted this kind of life (in the current state of the world), but she didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve a second chance; she didn't deserve this meal and she certainly didn't deserve a group to protect her.

* * *

When Anna went to sleep with a small blanket Carol had given her, the group had a silent meeting in Father Gabriel's separate room. It was a precaution so Anna did not hear.

Their first level of business was going for food, but Father Gabriel offered to show them a place a little ways away where food had been taken in the morning.

That made Anna the issue that brought them to this meeting with uneasy feelings and tons of questions.

"I want everyone to keep watch of her," Rick started. "But for saving us I gave her the chance to be one of us."

"But what about Gareth?" Abraham asked. "They seemed real cozy together when we saw them."

"Yeah, do you think she'd betray that to join us? She's gotta be up to something." Maggie told them.

"And what if she did just leave? That means she had no trouble betraying her group. Why wouldn't she do it to us?" Glenn continued.

"She seemed sweet when I talked to her." Carol cut in, understanding that sometimes you had to do what you had to do. "She didn't like the way she was living but couldn't get out of it. She saw a chance and took it."

"It could be a lie to get us to feel sympathetic." Rosita inquired with a shrug.

"I don't think she was lying." Carol defended.

Rick sighed, "When we get the food tomorrow we'll see how trustworthy she is."

* * *

The sun rose that morning and Anna woke with it, finding she was not the only one up, however she found she was still tired. Most of the group was awake, fiddling with their weapons and Rick was talking to Father Gabriel about the place the food was. Anna had already planned to go with them, to help, but Rick already insisted she go.

Her stubbornness wanted her to stay back just because Rick asked, but her desire to claim her place among them overtook her.

Anna gathered up her knives she had kept close when she slept, cleaned them off and waited for the rest of the group to be ready.

Carol walked over with a granola bar in hand, something she had given the rest of the group for breakfast.

Anna looked up as Carol approached her and stood, as to be polite. Carol had been the kindest to her since she arrived, and Anna had mixed feelings. Thankful was something that came to mind first, second was bitterness. Although, Anna tried her best to look passed it all and see Carol just as a woman who happen to be in the group, so she could get fresh feelings and thoughts.

"Thank you." said Anna, smiling slightly and taking the granola bar from Carol.

Carol smiled back and nodded, before turning and helping Maggie and Glenn. Anna sighed, looking at the wrapper of her breakfast before opening it and taking a small bite. She smiled to herself at the taste, and when she looked up she found Daryl glaring at her.

She had the feeling he didn't trust or open up easily. And she respected that; she wasn't far off herself.

Anna averted her eyes and looked back to the granola bar, slowly eating and savoring each bite. She was waiting for the part of the group that was going, as some were going to stay behind with Judith and Carl. She had wanted to volunteer to stay with Judith, but she knew no one would go for it.

Rick set out, with Father Gabriel as the guide, Daryl at his side, crossbow in hand and eyes scanning the trees. Anna was forced by Michonne, who kept a watchful eye on the new girl, and Bob and Sasha was by them as well, rounding out Rick's little group that were headed to the food bank.

As the sun steady rose, so did a sickening feeling in Anna's stomach, and she cringed as the nauseousness flooded her entire body. She made a face, stopping for a second and taking a deep breath. This aided her none and she quickly stepped back into pace with the rest of thee group.

Luckily, no one noticed her pause, however, Michonne glanced at her weirdly.

They made their way into town, where only a few Walkers were scattered about. Father Gabriel showed them to the food bank and they broke down the door to get inside.

It was discovered that the food had been down below, but it was flooded because the roof caved in. Each made their way down below, after some hesitation from Father Gabriel.

They started to gather all they could salvage, mostly canned goods.

Anna felt uneasy going through the gray and murky water and she tried to keep most of her body dry.

Walking next to Bob, Anna grabbed a few cans and tossed them over to Sasha, who put them in a large bucket. Anna worked silently, but when a Walker emerged through the water in front of Bob, she suppressed a scream of surprise.

It took her a second to get into gear, watching as the Walker started attacking Bob, but she jumped into action grabbing her knife and burying it into its skull. The Walker went limp and Bob looked up into Anna's eyes, beginning to think that she wasn't that bad. No one had been watching and she could have easily let it kill him.

"Thanks." Bob told her, his mind flashing back to when he was bound and gagged over the trough.

Anna hummed, nodding before going back to work. Her output of effort, however little, made her fatigued and slightly dizzy. She brushed it off as a bad nights rest, seeing that she didn't exactly have a bed like back at Terminus. Sasha raced over, going as fast as she could through the water and made sure Bob was okay. They kissed briefly before they both got back to work.

A few more Walkers started coming, all looking quite disgusting due to their long time in the water.

Daryl shot an arrow into one who was getting too close to him and Anna threw her knife to do the same. Rick took notice to Father Gabriel standing near the wall, eyes closed in acceptance of death. Rick did not let that happen and killed the Walker who had been advancing of the Father.

But what Rick did not notice was a Walker approaching behind him, arms out and ready to grab. Anna, seeing this, lifted her throwing arm with a knife and prepared to throw it into the skull.

Yet, what Daryl saw was Anna preparing to kill Rick and loaded an arrow to put one through her skull.

Anna caught sight of this and her eyes went wide before she pointed over to Rick. Daryl glanced in the direction and saw the Walker getting close.

"Rick!"

Rick turned and jumped to attack, killing the Walker easily. Daryl turned his weapon away from Anna and she sighed in relief.

Having enough of the danger at the food bank, Rick decided to go back to the church and to his son and daughter. Anna was also glad to be leaving, as the smell had really gotten to her and her breakfast was stirring uneasily in her stomach.

Outside, in the fresh air, Anna could take no more and steadied herself on a wall. Michonne, seeing this stopped and walked to the distressed woman. And she was about to ask if she was okay when Anna's breakfast spilled all over the pavement.

Anna wiped her mouth and instantly felt better, although she felt hungry again, having a weird craving for a pickle. Her eyebrows furrowed, staring at the concrete, however not really seeing it. Thoughts stirred around Anna's brain like her breakfast once had and a lightning strike of fear pierced through her.

She realized she was also late.


	7. SEVEN

**Jofrench22, ****I think I will change it to a long story, considering what you've said and the fact that I think I can do more with this story and with Anna. Thanks so much!**

* * *

**SEVEN:**

Anna blinked away tears and tried to calm herself before she had an anxiety attack. She had already started to draw attention, but she was trying to piece it together. And things started to make sense; her unpredictable emotions, the cravings, the dizzyness and the sickness.

"Hey, are you okay?" Michonne asked, leaning down to get a look at her face.

Anna's eyes flickered up, meeting Michonne's, before she stood back up. Her hand still on the wall, aiding her standing position, Anna nodded, removing her hand.

"I'm fine. Must've been the smell." Anna lied straight through her teeth, taking a step forward, her knees wobbling a little before Anna gained control over them again.

Rick and the rest of them turned, continuing to carry some of the boxes, while Rick pushed a cart along. Michonne stayed back with the ashen faced woman, who looked worried and lost in her own thoughts.

"Here," Michonne said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a bag filled with beef jerky that had been homeade with some squirrels. "You're no good on an empty stomach."

But the smell hit Anna's nose like a punch to the face and she suddenly felt like throwing up again. Quickly, Anna pushed the bag away from her face and took a deep breath of air, and her contorted face returned to what it once was; worry-stricken.

"No, thank you."

Michonne stared at her strangely, wondering why the smell affected her like it did. Sighing, she put the jerky back in her bag and took out a water bottle.

"At least, have a drink?" Michonne held it out to her.

Nodding weakly due to her rising fear, Anna took the bottle and took long, careful gulps until it was only a quarter of the way full. She stared at the almost empty bottle, watching the rippling of the water.

It did nothing to aid her uneasiness, but it allowed Anna to put on a fake emotion to conceal her real ones.

"Thank you." Anna smiled a small smile before handing it back to her.

Michonne then handed her a box full of food for her to bring back before grabbing her own. Both woman walked side-by-side, catching back up to the rest of them that had gotten a bit ahead.

* * *

With all the new food, there was a feast, and Anna found herself alone in the back. It was dark in the back, and it hid her shame and her lies as she ate slowly. No one paid much attention to her absence, instead they laughed and ate and enjoyed themselves as they had the first night.

Although, tonight, Anna could not even share their joy. She felt like she had a death sentence, and it was hanging heavily on her shoulders, visibly draining her. Judith had to have a mother, and seeing that she wasn't around, Anna knew she had been killed or died during birth. And the latter was why Anna believed she was going to die.

In her head, she debated leaving when everyone was asleep and simply letting life do with her what it would. But, she also wished to stay and live, but admitting her troubles was surely a death sentence.

Rick didn't even want Gareth to live, so how would he feel about his offspring in her belly? Anna couldn't say for certain, but she knew children were looked at differently if they had a bad parent, as if everyone was waiting for the child to follow in that parent's footsteps.

These thoughts made Anna sick and dizzy, instantly losing her appetite.

She wondered why it had turned out this way; why she had been handed such a sucky hand in life. Anna closed her eyes, pushing her food down the bench and away from her. Anna didn't even realize she had begun to cry until the salty tears met her lips.

As quickly as she could, Anna wiped away her tears, blinking to clear away the ones that were forming. No one could see that she was crying; no one could know something was wrong.

Anna put her head into her hands, trying to take deep breaths and stop herself from crying but the tears continued coming silently. Anna blamed the growing baby inside her for the tears and her increasing weepy attitude.

Rick handed Judith over to Michonne, and started to walk towards Anna. The group had come to a unanimous decision and it was all slightly inspired by the happy atmosphere.

Noticing his approach, Anna wiped all evidence of her tears from her face and mustered a small smile. She didn't know why he was coming over, but Anna felt the need to thank him, to at least, throw him off suspicions for now.

"May I?"

Anna took a deep breath and slid over so Rick could sit down next to her. It was silent for a few moments before Rick spoke up.

"How many Walkers have you killed?"

Anna furrowed her eyebrows at the question, before she mentally started to count. It was hard to remember the very beginning and how many she had killed then, but she knew how many she had killed in the last few days. She tried to sum up an approximate total.

"Ten, give or take. Why—"

"How many humans have you killed?" Rick cut her off, and although this was one of the questions he asked new members, he was honestly curious.

Anna blinked, unsure if he meant deaths she contributed to or ones killed by her own hand. Deciding a lower number would be more in her favor, she answered, "Five."

"Why?"

"The first one was not long after everything went to hell," Anna confessed. "He and his group attacked me, I killed him to get away. The next three you were present for. The last one shot my best friend in the forehead."

Anna dared not add that her best friend had been bitten, and figured Rick would assume she was trying to save herself from getting shot too.

"Bob told me what you did at the food bank. Thank you." Rick told her sincerely. "I think I trust you enough to join the group, but my previous statement still stands."

Anna nodded quickly. It went unsaid that everyone would still be keeping a watchful eye on her, but both parties knew it didn't need to be voiced.

"You should finish that." Rick gestured to her dinner, and Anna glanced over at it, but when she looked back to where Rick was, he was already up and walking back to his daughter.

Anna tried to stuff a few more bites down her throat, but finishing the whole plate went unsuccessfully. She honestly wanted to finish it, to keep herself healthy—God knew she was going to need it—but she couldn't bring herself to. She was still shocked to the news she had figured out that morning and was still unsure on what she was going to do.

With the little trust she gained she could easily grab what she could carry and leave or face her growing fear: tell the group.

Even the thought made her nervous, the nerves building in her stomach and threatening to overflow. Her palms got all sweaty and her heart started racing.

'_I could just _not _tell them.'_ thought Anna, deciding to hold off as long as possible. She could try and gain all their trust—make herself family—before spilling the news, faking just finding out herself. Surely then they wouldn't kill her or leave her behind. Although, that only gave her a few months before she started to show.

Anna nodded to herself, deciding that was going to be her course of action. And with any luck, no one would catch on before she was ready.

* * *

Needing to put her plan into action, Anna got up from the back and walked to the front and plastered a friendly smile on her face. She thanked Carol for dinner and handed her an empty plate after she discarded the rest of its contents under the bench she was sitting on.

Anna sat on a bench near the front, criss-crossed her legs and listened. It seemed a toast was going around, and Anna declined the offer of having some wine. Instead, she had a glass of water.

"We'll get Eugene to Washington and the living will have this world again!" Abraham vowed, with a smile.

This took Anna completely off guard. Eugene knew how to fix this whole mess? All they had to do was get him to Washington? Anna was shocked, to say the least. This whole mess could be sorted out and everything would go back to the way it was? Surely, things would be different, as people would have to rebuild society, but she would no longer have to worry about the dead?

Anna beamed, raising her glass slightly.

"We're in." Rick said, with Judith in his lap.

People grinned and some chuckled, raising their glasses in the air and silently toasting. Anna couldn't help but do the same.

Anna, falling back into her seat, continued to listen. She noticed Carol leave, unknown to most, except Daryl who followed after he noticed she was missing. Bob was also missing, but Anna didn't think much of it. After all, she didn't know everyones habits yet and figured it shouldn't worry her.

Maybe he just needed air.

A quarter of an hour passed and still, no one returned. Anna begun to feel suspicious, but everyone was had not noticed or didn't seem to be concerned.

"Where's Bob?"


	8. EIGHT

**Jofrench22, thank you for your reviews on the last few chapters, they mean a lot and always make my day.**

* * *

**EIGHT:**

Sasha set out to look for Bob, Tyreese and Rick not too far behind to help. Anna stayed back with everyone else, sitting quietly on one of the benches in silent worry for the missing group members.

When they returned, Sasha seemed furious, her eyes set directly on Father Gabriel, Rick and Tyreese following after her.

"What are you doing?"

Father Gabriel stopped what he was doing and looked at Sasha, mostly confused. Anna turned in her seat, curious, as did everyone else.

"This is all connected." Sasha continued. "You show up and we're being watched and now three of us are gone."

_'Watched?_' wondered Anna, suddenly fearful, stealing glances at the windows and the back door. '_Who would be watching us?'_

"I-I don't—I don't have anything to do with this." Father Gabriel took a step back after taking a glance around.

Sasha unsheathed her knife and Father Gabriel jumped back at the same time Anna stood up. This suddenly became more serious than she originally thought. Everyone else stood and Rosita attempted to run forward but Abraham caught her before she could go very far.

Sasha steadily got closer to Father Gabriel, who had his hands up, "Who's out there?"

"I-I don't have any ans—"

Sasha got into his face, "Where are our people?"

"I-I—"

"Where are our people?!" Sasha finally screamed, causing Anna to jump.

"I don't have anything to do with this."

Rick pulled Sasha away, who appeared to have tears forming in her eyes. Sasha went to stand near Tyreese while Rick took a step forward, eyes trained on Father Gabriel.

"Why'd you bring us here?" Rick asked, his tone careful and whispered, but threatening.

Hands still raised, Father Gabriel stuttered out, "P-p-please, I-I—"

"Are you working for someone?"

"I'm alone. I'm alone." Father Gabriel repeated. "I was always alone."

"'_You will burn for this_'. That was for you. Why? What are you going to burn for Gabriel?"

Anna, confused now, furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Father Gabriel expectantly. She hoped he wasn't behind this, but she did wish that their people would come back.

Rick suddenly grabbed Father Gabriel by the collar and pushed him back, his loud voice ringing out, "What did you do? What did you do?!"

Anna cringed at the loudness in his voice, yet thankful that she wasn't on the receiving end of it. This group had been hostile towards her, and now they were nuetral, but still careful and cautious, with times where they were mean or sent glares in her direction. Anna hoped all the bitter feelings towards her would cease, and currently they were gone-all focused on Father Gabriel and that was why she was thankful.

Rick let go of the now tearful Father Gabriel, who began searching for a place to look other than Rick's face. He seemed guilty, of what, Anna was not sure.

"I locked the doors at night. I always lock the doors at night. I always lock the doors at night." he started crying before he took a breath. "They started coming, my congregation. Atlanta was bombed the night before and they were scared. T-they were looking for a safe place; a place where they felt safe. It was so early and the doors were still locked. You see, it was my choice. There were so many of them and they were trying to pry the shutters and banging on the siding, screaming at me and so the dead came for them."

Anna's breath caught in her throat, utterly surprised and disgusted that this man had not let them in. Terminus had been a terrible place, but they always welcomed people.

But Anna realized that that wasn't even a good example to compare. If you weren't accepted at Terminus you were killed and eaten and that was that.

"Women, children, entire families were torn apart begging me for mercy." he started to tear up again, holding his hands together under his chin. "Begging me for mercy. Damning me to Hell. I buried their bones; I buried it all. The Lord sent you here to finally punish me. I'm damned. I was damned before. I always lock the doors. I always lock the doors."

He fell to the ground and continued crying, making Anna watch him in pity. Anna was frowning when Sasha turned to look at her.

"You."

Anna's eyebrows raised, watching as Sasha started approaching her, her knife still out and a hard look on her face. However, Anna wasn't taken by much surprise, she was still new and no one had entirely figured her out. It only made sense they blamed her next.

"Where are they?!" Sasha screamed, her hand tightening on her weapon.

"I didn't do anything! I was here the whole time!" Anna yelled, grabbing her own knife but keeping it at her side. "I swear, I didn't do this."

Sasha was about to say something, but Glenn and Maggie moved near the doors.

"There's something out there." Glenn said. "There's someone outside, laying in the grass."

Everyone turned and Sasha ran to the door, people calling to her and following her outside. Anna jogged after them and saw Bob laying in the grass, a leg missing and she didn't really have to guess to know who had done it. No one could instill fear like he could.

And it was in that moment, that everything the group had been saying to Bob's missing leg, Anna realized how dangerous Gareth was and fear started filling her.

"Bob!" Sasha rushed to his side, but her loud call had drawn attention from some nearby Walkers.

"His leg." said Maggie, with a shocked face.

"Get him inside, we'll take care of it." Glenn called to her, rushing up to hit the Walker in the face.

Anna took out a Walker close to herself, before following Glenn and the others back inside. However, Rick started shooting and ordering them inside, before he himself was able to.

* * *

They laid Bob on the floor and they surrounded him, Anna standing behind them. She knew she didn't belong kneeling beside him like the others and she kept her distance. He had woken and was holding his head, looking at them all.

"I was in a graveyard. Somebody knocked me out." Bob got to his elbows to look at them easier, but he sounded in pain by the way he was breathing. "I woke outside this place. Looked like a-a school. It was that guy," Bob's eyes met Anna's. "Gareth and five other ones. They were eating my leg right in front of me like it was nothing. All proud like they had it all figured out. And then he started talkin' about you."

"Me?" Suddenly, Anna felt queasy, and she forced herself to swallow back down her dinner that had started to rise.

"Yeah, he kept asking me if you were okay and stuff like that— mostly babble." Bob told Anna, taking notice to her worried body language.

Rick glanced at Anna, who was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt before looking back at Bob, "Did they have Daryl and Carol?"

"Gareth said they drove off."

Everyone was glanced at each other, each probably thinking something different, but all along the lines of 'Why did they leave?'

When they noticed how much pain Bob was in, they were going to get the first aid kit and see if anything would help, but Bob wouldn't have it. He sat up and showed them the bite in his shoulder.

Anna didn't know how this had happened. She had saved him from that Walker! Sure, she had frozen at first and she had seen it attack him from behind, but he said nothing about being bit and Sasha had checked him!

The group suddenly looked sad, and Sasha tried to reassure Bob it was going to be okay, but it looked like she was the one who needed reassurance. Bob fell backwards to lay down again, and Sasha helped him so he didn't injure himself further.

"There's a sofa in my office he can use." Father Gabriel told them, trying to be helpful. "I know it's not much—"

Still, Sasha thanked him for it.

Tyreese then carried Bob to the couch and Rick asked Father Gabriel if he knew where Bob was talking about. He did and said it was close; so close that it was only about a ten minute walk through the woods.

Anna took a step back and carefully sat down. Gareth was close, close enough that Anna could be there before morning or close enough that Gareth could attack tonight. Both thoughts worried her.

"Reality check," called Abraham, an intimidating gun in his hands, which caused Rosita to walk towards him. "we all need to leave for D.C. Right now."

"Daryl and Carol are gonna be back." Rick told him. "We're not going anywhere without 'em."

Anna felt thankful that Rick was not willing to leave someone behind, and hoped that she would soon have that. She knew she was going to need it.

"I respect that, but there's a clear threat to Eugene. I need to extract his ass before things get any uglier. If y'all don't come, good luck to ya, we'll go our separate ways." Abraham said with authority and turned to leave.

"You leavin' on foot?"

Abraham stopped, "We fixed that damn bus ourselves."

Rick strode forward, "There are a lot more of us."

"You wanna keep it that way? You should come."

"Carol saved your life." Rick got into Abraham's face. "We saved your life."

"I'm trying to save yours! Save everyone's." Abraham yelled.

"We ain't goin' anywhere without our people."

"Your people took off!"

"They're comin' back!"

The tension was thick now, Anna was positive she could cut it with one of her knives. It sent her heart into a race and her palms into a sweat.

"To what?! Picked over bones?"

Rick tried to grab Abraham, but he pushed Rick's hand away. Glenn took a careful step forward and Rosita tried to stop Abraham. Glenn put himself between the two Alpha-males and yelled for them to stop.

"Do you really think you're going to be any safer leaving right now in the middle of the night?" Glenn asked Abraham.

"Yeah." he said.

"What about tomorrow? We need you for this." Glenn stressed. "We _need_ each other to get to D.C. We can get through all of it together."

Tara stepped forward, "I have an idea. If you stay just one more day and help us I'll go with you to D.C. No matter what."

"Glenn and Maggie, too."

After another almost-fight, Glenn and Maggie agreed to go, and Rick accepted that. He really had no other choice, it wasn't his call to make. And Abraham agreed, but decided that by noon they were going to be gone, whether Daryl and Carol were back or not.

That gave them twelve hours.


	9. NINE

**Jofrench22, even as the author, I'd always take your opinions into account!**

* * *

**NINE:**

"They think they're in control. They're out there and we're in here." Rick said to the group, who were all sitting on the front row benches or standing near him. "We know exactly where they are."

"Your plan's got stones, I'll give you that." Abraham said, and it was the first thing Anna heard when she walked back inside, causing her eyebrows to furrow.

Anna had asked to get some fresh air after the confrontation and Tara had kept an eye on her through the window so that everyone knew she didn't go anywhere. And Anna had kept her word, but it was for more than just fresh air.

She had needed to sooth her stomach and the fresh air had done little to aid it, but when she walked inside it was mostly settled. Anna had been trying to come up with a lie and try and tell all involved that the baby wasn't Gareth's, maybe then they wouldn't mind. But since the whole thing went down, Gareth was the only one she had been with and trying to convince people otherwise was going to be a stretch.

So when the day came, Anna decided she wouldn't mention the father and the fact would just be left unsaid, as everyone could assume who it was. At least, that's how she hoped it would go.

"Make our move before they do."

"That's right. They're not counting on us to be thinking straight."

Anna went and sat on the second row bench, staring up at Rick and the others in curiosity wondering exactly what the plan was.

"Are we?" Rosita wondered. "Just making sure, it's a big play."

"Remember what these people are capable of." Rick set a glare Anna's way and Anna looked down and away from it. "Tyreese, you up for this?"

Anna looked up to see Sasha walk out of the office and tell everyone that she was going with them, to be apart of whatever was happening. Anna felt confused, and wanted to ask what exactly the plan was, but knew she wasn't going to get a good answer.

She may have gotten some of their trust, but she still had ties with Gareth and the others and no one was going to risk telling her.

Rick and the others, with the exception of Father Gabriel, Carl, Judith, Tyreese, Rosita, Bob, Eugene and Anna left to go to the school.

Anna decided to not hide with the others, even though Rick insisted—and Carl even personally asked her— instead she hid near the door, cloaked in darkness and practically unseeable.

Her heartbeat accelerated when the door broke open, and her breathing hitched and she used her hand as to not make any sound. The door creaked open and Anna felt like she was going to puke because of the nerves.

"We'll I guess you know we're here." Gareth's voice rang out, and Anna squeezed her eyes shut wishing she knew the plan now more than ever. "And we know you're here."

In the moonlight, through the windows, Anna caught sight of the side of Gareth's face. She wanted to close her eyes again, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She simply stared.

"And we're armed. There's really no point in hiding anymore."

Anna saw Gareth give the single to start looking and she hoped she had picked a good spot. Though, when her heart kept pumping, faster and faster, she feared they might have heard it.

They inched forward slowly, not making any sound.

"We've been watching you. We know who's here. There's Bob—unless you've put him out of his misery already— and Eugene, Rosita, Martin's good friend Tyreese, Carl, Judith, and Anna. Darling, come on out; I'm not going to hurt you."

Anna's anxiety increased tenfold, and she now regretted not hiding with the others. However, there was nothing she could do about it now. One of the men walked passed her, and she pressed her lips together hard, yet he continued passed, not noticing her.

"Rick and the others walked out with a lot of your guns. Listen, we don't know where you all are, but this isn't a big place. Stop this now before things get more painful than they need to be."

Gareth gestured towards the doors and Anna's mouth went dry and it almost hurt to swallow. They tried both doors to find both locked.

"Look, you're behind one of these doors and we have more than enough firepower to take down both." Gareth's tone suggested annoyance. "Can't imagine that's what y'all want."

A gun cocked and Anna almost moved to get under a bench but she was frozen in her spot.

"How about the priest? Father, you help us out on this and we'll let you walk away from this." Gareth suggested and Anna prayed Gabriel wouldn't fall for it. Gareth was very manipulative and could easily talk someone out of a situation like this. "Just open the door and go. You can take the baby with you. What'a ya say?"

Suddenly Judith started crying and Anna's heart leapt into her throat, her skin suddenly getting very hot.

"I dunno, maybe we'll keep the kid. I'm starting to like this girl." Anna heard Garth whisper.

Anna could take no more, and she certainly wasn't going to allow Gareth to get his hands on Judith, the little spark Anna swore to protect. With all the courage Anna could muster, she called out, bring all attention to her.

"Gareth!" Anna screamed, hands shaking and knees trembling.

In the low light Gareth looked so much more scarier, given the circumstances.

Gareth smiled at the woman who revealed herself to him, but it disappeared when Anna sprinted out the door. Gareth looked to Martin, "Don't open that door and don't do anything until I get back!"

He then started racing after Anna into the night, where she almost disappeared into the trees but Gareth was able to keep up.

Anna didn't know where she was going or what she was doing, she just knew she had to get Gareth away from Judith and the others. If that meant risking her own life, then so be it.

She ran into the underbrush, ducking under branches and jumping over logs. Her eyes searched the darkness in front of her, looking for an escape, but all she found was more trees and dead leaves. She dared not turn around to see how close or how far Gareth was, she didn't want to risk slowing down.

Her breath came harshly as she panted in and out, her heart hammering against her ribs, threatening to burst out of her chest. She thought she had been fast enough to get away, but he was faster.

Gareth reached out and grabbed Anna's arm, jerking her to a hault. She spun around and tried to get free, but Gareth tossed his gun to the ground, grabbed both of her wrists and pushed her into a tree. Gareth then grabbed a knife from Anna's belt and held it up.

"Why are you running, darling?" Gareth wondered, his dark eyes meeting hers, tone soft and dangerous.

Anna didn't answer, instead she struggled.

She was panting for air at this point, her sticky saliva making her swallow hard. Her heart was still pounding in her ears and in her chest, but all she could do was to try and get free.

Gareth tightened his grip and Anna made a strangled cry of hurt before she stopped moving. She glanced at his face, then his eyes. She saw his hand move up, her silver knife glittering in the moonlight. He placed the cold metal on her cheek, and gave a small, sad smile, before gently trailing the knife down her cheek and throat. When he reached her shoulder, he added pressure and drew blood.

"You ran away." he said, in a tone of hurt and anger. "You betrayed me. Do you know what I do to betrayers?"

Anna knew full well what happened to them and her stomach twisted. Her decision had been so rash, she forgot to think about all involved. She wanted to live, and with the knife again near her throat and her shoulder bleeding, she knew she was going to have to fight or plea.

"Gareth, please," Anna's eyes teared up, starting to cry. "please don't kill us."

She hadn't intended to use that word, yet she had and maybe this was her saving grace; her chance to live. She didn't exactly want him to know—she didn't want anyone to know!— but there was no going back now.

"Us?" Gareth's eyebrows furrowed, taken off guard by the word.

Tears started down Anna's cheeks as she looked back up at him, "I'm pregnant."


	10. TEN

**Thank you, Jofrench22 and Lily, on your reviews last chapter!**

* * *

**TEN:**

_Tears started down Anna's cheeks as she looked back up at him, "I'm pregnant."_

That seemed to knock the wind right out of his sails and he took a step back. This was her perfect chance to run, but she didn't move. His eyes reminded her why she loved him in the first place and she couldn't run from that. She never could, no matter how far she ran, or how hard she tried to deny it.

He may have drawn blood from her and Anna should have hated him for doing so, but again she remembered their passionate love they had for each other. It was impossible to forget and simply made her blind to his wrongdoings. Although, she wasn't blind to them anymore, she was accepting of them; of all his faults.

For a second, she almost wanted to ask him to run away with her; to run from her new group and Gareth's current one. She wanted to suggest they start a new life together with their child. But Anna thought back to Jenny and Judith and she hated herself for even thinking it.

Gareth stared at her with his deep brown eyes, bewildered before he smirked, "You are?"

Anna nodded, glancing down at her feet, "I found out this morning."

"So you didn't know when you left?" he wondered, stepping closer and looking deep into her eyes, placing her knife in his belt and then putting hands on each side of her face.

"N—no, I didn't. I don't think I would have if I'd known and I don't know why I did." She was almost being honest, but she noticed her words seemed to calm Gareth from his earlier anger towards her. Never had Gareth been angry towards her, and she knew she was lucky.

People Gareth got angry at usually sustained violent injury or disappeared altogether.

"You're coming back with us." Gareth told her, leaving no room for inquiry—his word usually _was_ final— but he ran his thumb under her eyes to clear her tears.

Anna was thankful she got to live, but it raised the question if after she gave birth—if she was still alive— would Gareth kill her then? And what was going to happen with everyone back at the church?

With Gareth back in the picture, Anna didn't know which side to choose that gave her a better chance at life. Although, with the baby in her womb, she should choose Gareth, the father, shouldn't she?

At the change of plans, Anna knew she was going to have to win back his affections and his trust if she was going to live after the birth.

Gareth smiled then, pulled her face close and kissed her, deeply elated with the news and that he could have her back with him. Anna returned the kiss, sighing in content before wrapping her arms around him.

She blamed the hormones before she hugged him tighter.

* * *

Anna did not know what she was going to do, and fear crept back inside her. They shared brief conversations with each other on the way back to the church, and Anna was completely passive in following after him.

Gareth had allowed Anna her knife back, and she immediately put it away, while Gareth held his gun in caution and in protection for the soon-to-be-mother. She understood with great knowing that Gareth was very protective over his family, and Anna was glad to have that—at least, for now.

Even though Gareth held onto Anna's wrist, he did so with care and in a loose fashion—she had already submitted to him and he knew her occasional weak-will would hold her by his side. He also could tell that she was craving protection, and now that he knew why, he felt inclined to give it to her. After all, she was giving him a great gift—a shining light in the bleak darkness of their current reality.

The church came into view through the trees, and at the sight Anna felt a degree of sadness. She was going to be leaving with Gareth, and she knew she was going to miss Judith.

She sighed deeply before falling back into step with Gareth, who eyed her curiously. However, this was not the time to be curious, he would ask her every question he had after they left with the others.

* * *

Back inside, everything was how it was when they left. The group were still at the door, guns drawn, waiting patiently for Gareth's return. They looked at Anna, some having their eyebrows raised before noticing Gareth's hold on her and they turned back to the door.

"Sorry for the delay," Gareth chuckled, moving towards the door. "But that's your last chance to tell us your coming out."

A gun cocked and Anna glared at Martin from the corner of her eye. But she was helpless to them now, at the mercy of their own will. She would defend herself to the end, no doubt Gareth too, but she had left and her last group didn't seem to trust her like they had.

Annoyed, Martin asked, "Are we done?"

Gareth sighed, glancing at Martin before looking back at the door, "Right at the hinges."

And just as they were about to shoot the hinges, shots rang out and both group members by the door were shot in the head. They fell to the ground, and a startled Anna turned to find the source, Gareth and Martin turning to do the same.

They found darkness, but a voice undoubtedly Rick's spoke up commandingly, "Put your guns on the floor."

Gareth got on the defensive, pointing towards the door, "Rick, we'll fire right into that office, so you lower your guns!"

Another shot rang out, close enough to Anna where she instinctively ducked away from it. Gareth let out a sound of pain, dropping his gun and Anna saw that his index and middle finger had been shot off.

The lovers shared a fearful glance before Gareth pulled his hand towards his torso and let out another cry of pain, leaning over.

From the darkness, Rick emerged, gun aimed straight at them, "Put your guns on the floor and kneel."

From the ground, Gareth, in a pained voice told them, "Do what he says."

It was mostly directed towards Anna, who he feared would get shot and die if she did not listen. But she was stubborn and instead kneeled at his side, trying to comfort him.

However, the rest of Gareth's group listened and placed their guns upon the ground before kneeling.

More of Rick's group could be seen coming through the darkness, guns at the ready. They all looked very threatening and Anna swallowed thickly before looking back at Gareth.

"Martin, there's no choice here." Gareth told the man who had refused to do as told.

"Yeah, there is."

Anna mentally cursed the man whom she had never really liked. He was reckless and defiant, neither of which were meant in a good way.

Abraham came forward, gun aimed right at Martin, "Wanna bet?"

Smiling, Martin finally got to his knees with a snide chuckle. Rick's group came forward, Michonne to one side, Abraham at the other and Rick at the center with Sasha behind him. Rick walked until he was at the front and Gareth turned to look at him, but he was still on his hands and knees, Anna aiding him along.

Gareth glanced at Anna before looking up at Rick, "No point in begging, right?"

"No."

Rick's answer sent Anna's numb mind into a feverish heat that had the ice melting quickly. More were going to die tonight, that she was almost certain of, but she hoped with her every being it wasn't going to be her and Gareth. But with Rick's harsh gaze set on Gareth, Anna knew she was going to have to hope for a miracle.

"Still, you could'a killed us when you came in, there has to be a reason for that." Gareth kept fidgeting because of the pain, and Anna wished she would get to tend to it later. At least, he would be alive.

"We didn't want to waste the bullets." came Rick's reply.

Anna squeezed her eyes shut for a fraction of a second, her heart picking up in pace.

"We used to help people,"

Anna could tell Gareth was trying to plead his way out of this; find a little bit of sympathy. It was really all they had left, at this point.

"we still help people." Gareth continued. "Things changed, they came in—ah—"

Anna could not tell if he broke off because of the pain in his hand or the trauma of the event. An event that had ended a week before Anna and Jenny arrived, and it was by sheer luck they had missed it.

"After that, I know you've been out there but I can see it. You don't know what it is to be hungry,"

Rick smiled with a small shake of his head.

"You don't have to do this, we can walk away. And we will never cross paths again. I promise you. Come on, I'm going to be a father."

At the word, Anna's head snapped in Gareth's direction and Rick's snapped to meet Anna's. Anna could feel everyone's eyes watching her as her breathing hitched and she swallowed hard. Her gazed turned back to Rick, who was staring at her.

"Is that true?" Rick whispered to her, a bite to his tone.

Looking away from his gaze, she could only nod. It caused Rick to sigh, but his underlying rage towards Gareth still stood strong and steady. Rick looked back at Gareth and continued,

"When you cross someones path?" Rick wondered, his eyes becoming slits for a brief moment, before he raised his gun to Gareth's head and then lowered it. "You do this to anyone, right?"

Rick moved forward, one hand on a red-handled knife that Anna stared at for a moment before looking back up at Rick from her place on the ground, her cheeks hot and her palms sweaty.

"Besides, I already made you a promise." Rick unsheathed the long red-handled knife and swung his arm forward.

Before Gareth cried out "No!", he shoved Anna backwards and away from the attack. Anna was laying on the ground, about to get to her feet when she saw Rick brutally kill the love of her life. Rick's group also started killing the others, who screamed as they died, but there was a high pitched ringing in the air Anna couldn't identify.

She was staring helplessly as the blood splattered, landing on everything close by, including herself. She watched as Rick came back with the knife, again and again, on Gareth's body. Rick was covered in Gareth's blood when he stopped, heaving for breath and everything went silent except for the high pitched noise.

However, in the silence, Anna realized the high pitched ringing was herself screaming.


	11. ELEVEN

**Thank you, Prettyprincess45, and Jofrench22 thank you and you're welcome (I try to update regularly, plus I love writing this!)**

* * *

**ELEVEN:**

Anna cut off screaming when she ran out of air, and it had left her throat raw and in pain. But no pain could match the one in her heart, or the burning hatred that ignited within her soul. Her chest ached so unbearably much, her thudding heart pounding in her ears and throbbing in her chest.

Her eyes were leaking down her cheeks, her face contorted in the painful sorrow that was reflected inside her. She was whimpering as a hole dug its way into her heart and through her soul, a strong sense of loss washing over her and making her cry harder.

On weak knees, Anna tried to stand, but failed when her shaking legs gave out and instead crawled over to Gareth's mangled body. She didn't care about the looks the group were giving her, especially the one of realization from Michonne—who suddenly understood her morning sickness— she just _needed_ to get to Gareth's side.

She crawled across the spilled blood on the floor and to the body of her lover. Tears blurred her vision and she tried to blink them away to see, but it was useless as they just kept coming.

"That could'a been us." Rick's voice carried, his careful eyes watching Anna.

"Yeah," Sasha was the only one who answered, and Rick placed the blade back in its holder.

Maggie and Tara looked detached from the situation, staring around at the bodies. Their guns might have been raised during the showdown, but they fired no bullets and they attacked zero. Glenn had also stood back, and was watching Rick carefully.

Gareth was laying on his right side, his head facing upward and his eyes closed. Anna approached from the back and she gasped in horror when she saw the damage that had been done. His guts were hanging out and some were on the floor, and the state of it only fueled the flame inside her.

Anna sat back on her legs before she reached out and touched Gareth's shoulder, pulling his body so he was mostly laying on his back. Anna couldn't stop the sob that escaped her lips then.

She grabbed his right hand and intertwined their fingers, his blood smearing onto her skin. His hand was still warm, but it was still and lifeless, and Anna squeezed his hand and bowed her head, crying further. She hoped to wake up back at Terminus, or somewhere else where he was still alive.

Anna would have killed for that.

With her head on his shoulder, holding his hand and leaning over him, Anna was left in her own little world of misery, regrets and sorrow. She was rocking back and forth, rubbing circles on the back of his hand absentmindedly.

Father Gabriel walked from the office, and stared at the horror around him. He leaned up against the wall, and that's when he caught sight of the woman clinging to a dead body. He bowed his head in sympathy.

Rick, who sighed, glanced over at Anna before stepping towards her. He crouched down on the opposite side of her, his hands folded in front of him. He was silent for a moment, wondering if she had taken notice to his presence, and she had, she was just trying to ignore Gareth's murderer.

"You understand that if were not for the fact that you're pregnant, we would'a killed you?" Rick wanted to instill that into her mind, as for the fact that she was going to have a baby had stopped him from killing her too.

He had seen Anna flea to the forest, Gareth on her tail. He also watched them return together, hand-in-hand. And add to the fact that she stood by his side when everything went down, well, let's just say he was angry. The minimal trust he had for her was now gone, and most of the group shared that feeling.

Anna's eyes rose to meet Rick's before they turned into angry slits. It took all she had to not grab her knife and kill him with it, but she kept a semi-cool head because the rest of the group was around to defend him.

"I figured." she snarled, her right hand clenching into a fist as her left gripped tighter onto Gareth's.

Rick's lips turned downward at the attitude, although he understood, but that didn't mean that he liked that she had went and stayed by Gareth's side.

Anna had kept her seething eyes on Rick, but glanced down at Gareth after a moment, her face softening. She stared for a second, before looking back up at Rick, who hadn't moved. She rolled her tongue over her teeth, parted her lips and wetted them, before she went to make an angry remark at him,

Rick interrupted with a hard tone, "_Look_, you're no good on your own—given that you are pregnant— and I'm going to _allow_ you to stay. However, you are to never go off on your own and never step out of line."

Anna considered this a prison sentence for every wrong thing she had done in life and it didn't seem like Rick was giving her much of a choice here. Anna didn't know why he had let her stay, but she hated to admit he was right: she _was_ no good on her own.

She nodded curtly and looked away from Rick and back to Gareth.

With a sigh, Rick got up and walked to the office to see his children. Bob was also in there, still alive and breathing, and he requested to talk to Rick and the others filed out.

Anna sniffled, bringing both hands to the one she held and she kissed the back of it. She closed her eyes for a moment before carefully laying Gareth's hand back at his side. She looked down at his knife that was on his hip and she unbuckled it.

It was considerably larger than the rest of her knives, but a deal smaller than the red-handled one Rick had. She gripped the knife holder tightly in her hands, bringing it towards her face where she rested the handle on her forehead and closed her eyes.

After a few moments more, she opened her eyes and placed the knife on her belt, right on her right hip. She ran her thumb over the grooves in the handle, staring into the space in front of her.

She looked back at Gareth's body and wondered what on Earth she was going to do.

* * *

Anna could not sleep, and found that she was rather restless with Gareth's body still inside the church, after she used a screwdriver through his ear so he wouldn't come back— she didn't wish to see him like that. The group had started to clean up the bodies, and were no doubt going to burn them outside. Anna did not want that for Gareth.

So Anna gathered up her courage that had been damaged during the fight and walked over to Tara. Tara didn't seem very intimidating and Anna found her approachable. Anna knew she couldn't ask Rick the question she was about to ask, frankly because she couldn't get herself to.

"Hey, Tara," Anna said on approach, "could you come with me outside?"

Rick had informed the other about never leaving Anna alone, and to tell him if she stepped out of line in _any_ way.

"Sure." Tara agreed, grabbing her gun and following the blonde outside, where it was still dark but the sun was rising.

Anna had seen the shovel upon arrival at the church, but never thought anything of it until a few hours ago. She had wanted to bury Gareth, and even though the group did not like Gareth and probably wouldn't smile on her action, she didn't care. She was going to try her hardest; go as far as she could with it.

She didn't want the group to _burn_ him.

At the edge of the woods, shovel in hand, Anna started digging. She had estimated the length and width she would need, and she teared up as she got further down.

"You're going to bury him?" Tara spoke up, confusion in her tone.

Anna wanted to answer sarcastically, but given the circumstances she couldn't find it in her to be sarcastic. Instead, she said, "I want to."

Tara frowned, but said nothing against it. "I can respect that."

Surprised, Anna looked up from her work, "You can?"

Tara shrugged, "You loved him, you're pregnant with his child, of course you'd want to bury him. It's the only normal thing you got left."

Anna considered this, and thought it over as she began working again. Tara was right; back before the world went to hell, people buried their dead, it was what you did with loved ones unless they wished otherwise. It was a normal reaction to the death of a close one, and since the dead walking around wasn't normal, Anna did the only thing in the situation that was: mourn and bury.

That's what kept her digging; the taste of normalcy and the love to see Gareth put to rest after his brutal death.

* * *

After an hour, Michonne had joined them and by that time Anna had finished digging the perfect hole and creating a gravemarker, which were some thick sticks, long and thin logs and some flowers.

Anna then went inside, Tara and Michonne following silently, where she managed to roll Gareth onto a blanket and drag him to the stairs. Feeling sympathy for the grieving mother-to-be, both Michonne and Tara helped carry Gareth's body outside to his grave.

He was laid gently and Anna had given both women a look that asked them to give her some space. They granted her that, but stayed close in case she decided to run.

Anna placed another blanket over Gareth's body before pulling it down to just his neck and she kissed him once on the lips and one on his forehead. She placed the blanket back over his face before she hauled herself out of the six-foot grave.

She looked down and said a farewell to him in her head, something that brought forth so many memories that she started crying. Taking a breath, Anna proceeded to fill back in the grave until it was filled. She placed the grave-marker where his head was, where she had carved his name into the wood the best she could. Anna even went to extra mile and placed the long and thin logs around the grave, along with flowers overtop.

Anna swore when everything was over, she would come back and give him a proper headstone.

* * *

Wiping her tears away, Anna started back to the church. The group had watched her work every so often while they were doing theirs, and it created mixed feelings. In the beginning, all Anna wanted to do was help them and they were grateful, but as soon as Gareth came back she betrayed them. She wasn't exactly everyone's favorite person at the moment.

Anna sat down on the church's front steps, were both Michonne and Tara sat down next to her.

"Keep yourself hydrated," Michonne told Anna, handing her a bottle of water that Anna took gratefully.

"Thank you," Anna managed to smile at them. "Really, thank you both."

It wasn't about the water, and they knew that. It was the small acts of kindness that gave Anna the slightest hope that things might be okay in the future.

"We understand." Michonne told her, with a small smile.

From Michonne's eyes, Anna could tell that Michonne had been through some bad things—like everyone else— but Michonne didn't seem to be lying when she told Anna that.

Anna nodded and took a gulp of water, staring out into the forest where the sunlight was already starting to shine through the trees.

It was then that Glenn informed them that Bob had passed away, and Sasha had already started Bob's grave, at the opposite end of where Gareth was. When she finished it was noon and Abraham and the others were leaving on the bus for D.C. Tara was going to be leaving with them, and Anna felt a slight loss when she climbed onto the bus with a simple smile in Anna's direction.

Abraham had given Rick a map of their road to D.C so that they could catch up when everyone had returned. Rick assured they would be there as soon as they could, and Anna hoped the mess would be over soon.

The bus disappeared around the bend and everyone went back inside or back to work. Anna stuck closely to Michonne, who minded slightly, but didn't let on. Anna seemed to want to help, and really had nothing left, so Michonne decided to be friendly. Michonne may have hated Gareth, but Anna loving Gareth didn't make her a monster too.

* * *

That night, Anna found herself overly tired, but she found herself outside with Michonne after dinner. No words passed between them, just silence, but both parties were perfectly content with that. They were both consumed in their own thoughts; Anna struggling to find a way to redeem herself in Rick's eyes. She wanted to trust and respect again, but was unsure how exactly to get it back.

There was a rustling from the leaves near the church, that had both women to their feet in seconds. Michonne grabbed her katana, and Anna pulled Gareth's knife from its holder. Michonne glanced at Anna and nodded, and they both started towards the noise, stepping silently.

They got to the edge when the rustling became louder. It was either a person or a walker, they were not sure.

But, it was Daryl who emerged, and Michonne released a relieved breath. However, Anna's gut twisted; here was Rick's right-hand man, who would be filled in on what went down, making him just another person Anna had to redeem herself to.

"Where's Carol?" Michonne asked.

"Come on out."


	12. TWELVE

**Thank you guest for the review on the last chapter, they really help! Due to bad WiFi, I could not update sooner, so sorry (and this is short, but I wanted to get something out after my long absence)! And because other works (like school, other stories and my job), after this update I will only be updating every Sunday, sorry!**

* * *

**TWELVE:**

The one who had been hiding was a boy by the name of Noah. It had surprised the group, mostly because it was someone they did not know exactly who he was and if he had an end game. However, that morning, Rick put the kid to work on helping them fortify the church.

Sasha was not coping well, and was luckily taking her pent up frustration on chopping up the benches with an axe. Tyreese and Daryl had started taking apart the organ, using the pipes to place around the front stairs, as they had sharp ends.

The night Daryl and Noah showed up, Rick had pulled Daryl aside and told him all that went down. From Anna and Gareth to Bob and Abraham; all was told. It sent Daryl into a high alert whenever he was around Anna, and into having a watchful eye when she was not.

Anna thought she could bury her problems with Gareth, and act normally. It was, however, proving very difficult, as Rick's face sent her memories resurfacing and her anger boiling back up again. She had once thought Terminus was her hell, but she was beginning to think that being near Rick was the worst thing she could ever endure. She could make no movement that seemed threatening or any action that seemed traitorous.

It took all she had to _just keep silent_.

Michonne and Anna worked together outside, beside Rick and Carl. There had been a plan for a group to go into Atlanta, a place they discovered was holding Beth and now Carol, while others stayed back and guarded the church.

Later that afternoon, Rick bid his goodbye's to his children, and Michonne who were staying behind, as was the priest. Anna insisted that she go with Rick and the others, and it didn't take much fight; Anna was good with her knives, plus Rick's group was of capable people in case Anna decided to turn on them.

* * *

The group bound for Atlanta were in a car, Rick and Daryl upfront, while the others were in the back compartment, sitting mostly silently. Anna was running her hands over Gareth's knife that she had out, running her fingers along the blade with distant eyes and a faraway mind.

The pain in Anna's chest was ever present, and her soul wept and her heart mourned, her mind racing through her memories like they were photos in a book. All her emotions, though, were kept quietly beneath her skin and inside her mind, and she dared not even let one show.

They arrived in Atlanta very discreetly, and decided to take base in an abandoned building (although they were all abandoned). They were setting up their plan and making sure everyone was good with it.

"At sundown we fire a shot into the air," Rick told them, kneeling down. "we get two of them out on patrol, then it'll be dark enough so the rooftop spotter won't see us, then we go. We cut the locks on one of the stairways and take it to the fifth floor. I open the door, Daryl takes the guard out."

"How?" Tyreese asked.

"This is all about doing this quiet," Which was one of the only reasons Rick was glad to have Anna with them, "keeping the upper hand. They're not expecting us. From there we fan out, knives and silent weapons. We need to be fast," Rick stressed.

Anna may not have known Beth, all she did know was that Beth was apart of this group and that she felt it was her duty to protect and help her. Maybe then she could earn her spot among them, or at least, become less of an outsider. If she was going to be with the group through her pregnancy and passed that, they were all going to have to get along, or be civil enough to coexist.

Rick drew in the concrete that was layered in dust and dirt, showing them the place. He drew "x"'s that represented group members. "Tyreese, Sasha, take them. Daryl, Anna, you take care of anyone in the kitchen. I'll take care of Dawn. If they're smart, the rest of 'em will give up then. Six on three, seven on three once we get a weapon to Beth."

"Thirteen on three. They'll want to help." Noah told them.

"That's best case," said Tyreese. "what's worst cast? All it takes is one of those cops going down the hall at the wrong time, then it's not quiet. All hands on deck, we're talkin' about a lot of bullets flyin' around."

Anna's nose screwed up for a second. She wasn't a fan of using guns, considering they weren't exactly subtle, plus if you ran out of ammo you were pretty much screwed. Anna much preferred her knife, but considering the show that was about to go down, she didn't entirely mind having a gun at her side.

"If that's what it takes." Sasha commented.

"It's not." Tyreese suggested, "If we get a couple of her cops—alive, out here— we do an even trade. Theirs for ours. Everybody goes home."

Anna like the plan, a plan she wished they had used with Gareth, but she also didn't want to risk it. Dead men tell no tales; they also don't go looking for you.

Rick stood, "I get it. And it might work. _This_ will work."

"Nah, that'll work too." Daryl said, causing Anna to raise an eyebrow; usually Daryl agreed with Rick, as far as she knew. "You say this Dawn is trying to keep it together, right?"

Noah nodded, "Tryin' and doin' are two different things."

"You take two of her cops away, what choices does she have? Everybody goes home, like he said." Daryl pointed to Tyreese.

An agreement seemed to settle over them, and even though Anna never voiced her opinion—although, _who would listen?_— she seemed to agree.


	13. THIRTEEN

**R&amp;R? It really helps me to know what you guys are thinking, so please review?**

* * *

**THIRTEEN: **

Their plan was sent into action, with a Noah and a gun to draw out the police patrollers. Noah limped, but tried his hardest to run after firing another shot. Although risky, because the noise attracted Walkers, it was a risk all were willing to take.

The police car bumped into Noah as it skidded to a halt, blocking him, and the two officers got out, guns drawn.

"Put it down, Noah."

"Put the gun down!"

Noah stopped, turned and put the gun down onto the pavement.

"Hands up, turn around."

Noah did as instructed as they approached him. The male officer went to cuff Noah, but made sure they were not too tight, and even asked Noah to tell him if they were.

"Though you were smart, Noah, thought no one would hear you?" asked the female officer, her gun still drawn.

Daryl whistled, calling the attention of the three, and they turned to face Rick, Sasha, Daryl, Tyreese, Anna and their guns. Both officers pointed their weapons at the group, a little startled.

"Hands." said Rick calmly.

"What do you want?" asked the female officer.

"Whatever this is," started the male officer. "we can help."

"Do what we say, we don't hurt you." Rick told them, with hard features.

It took a few seconds for the male officer to comply, who put his hands up, and the female followed suit.

"Good, now turn around," Rick and the others inched closer. "and put your guns on the floor. Kneel."

Both officers did as told, and started to get to their knees as the group circled them, their guns staying up the entire time. Both Daryl and Sasha moved to grab the guns and then cuff them, while Tyreese helped uncuff Noah from the zip-ties.

"We need to talk." Rick said, letting his arms drop to his side with his gun. "Water if you need some, food."

Noah grabbed his gun from the ground, and Anna nodded at him, wondering if he was okay, to which Noah nodded back.

"Let me ask you somethin'." started the male officer, who was lifted to his feet by Daryl. "The way you talk, the way you carry yourself, are you a cop?" When Rick said nothing, he continued, "Believe it or not, I was too."

Anna was marginally surprised by hear that Rick was a cop before all this. She had noticed his commanding presence and how he carried himself, but she assumed it was because of what had happened not what had been.

"That's Lamson," Noah told Rick, walking up next to him. "he'll be down for this. He's one of the good ones."

Just then a blue car sped down where they were, headed straight at them. Startled, the group only froze for a second, before they started shooting at it. Anna had been delayed a second more, startled again by the loud echo of gunfire, before she raised the gun Rick gave her and started shooting.

The group had to get out of the way of the oncoming car and took cover by things that were left behind. Anna shot into the window, which revealed both officers getting inside, but it also revealed the cop driving, who was shooting through the open window.

As the car started its retreat, the group jumped out and started shooting at the tires, however it was Sasha who shot out a tire first.

Anna started running after the car, Rick by her side and the others behind them. After rounding a corner, Rick held up a hand and they stopped. Anna looked up at the skyline, where she saw an 'EVAC HERE' spray painted on a water tower on the top of a two-story building.

In the street were dead bodies—some of which were moving— and abandoned cars, but one in particular, that had it's doors open and no one in sight.

They started walking, guns drawn and eyes alert, and some of the bodies with missing legs started grabbing at them. They were a fleshy pink, with black marks that made them look like they had been burned. Anna felt a sickening feeling rise in her stomach; she hated seeing the decayed and rotting Walkers. They never failed to make her squeamish, and add to the fact of her morning sickness, all Anna wanted to do was sit down, but she forced herself forward, avoiding looking at the bodies. Yet their constant moaning and growling reminded Anna they were there and never going away.

They caught sight of the fleeing officers and started after them. However, after hearing a noise inside the car, Daryl stopped to investigate. Daryl then walked towards a camper, inspecting it. He opened the door, and looked inside, but didn't see anything.

Coming from behind the door, the officer who had been driving, jumped and attacked Daryl, who was taken off guard. They started attacking each other, and the officer got Daryl to the ground, were his head was scarily close to a Walker, who was now trying to feed.

Noticing Daryl was no longer with them, Anna made an annoyed sigh, looked over at Rick before turning around and running back to where they had come. Since they had been distracted, no group member noticed her form running in the opposite direction.

Anna saw the camper and turned with her gun drawn, where the sight of Daryl on the ground greeted her. She tried to get a shot at the officer, but there was a risk of accidentally shooting Daryl.

Frowning, Anna put the gun in the holster on her left side. She made a split second decision on grabbing Gareth's knife on her right side, instead of her own knives in the back of her belt, she ran forward to attack.

Running forward, Anna pushed the officer off of Daryl, and ended up falling with him, but her hands and knees caught her before she could fall. Gripping the knife tighter, she raised it above her head and plunged the knife into his abdomen. He let out a surprised gasp, then hit Anna in her shoulder, knocking her off balance and to the ground.

She was now dangerously close to being eaten by a Walker, but a shot rang out and the Walker beside her fell limp. Gasping she turned to look for the cause and saw Rick, who finally noticed both Daryl and Anna missing and came to investigate.

Rick aimed his gun at the officer, who was on his knees, and then he raised his arms.

"Okay," said the officer, "you win, asshole."

The officer then got to his feet, staring down the barrel of Rick's gun, and Rick's face was hard and dangerous.

"Rick." Daryl said, on his hands and knees. "Rick!"

Daryl got to his feet, and Anna followed suit, still watching the scene in front of her with cautious eyes. Daryl walked behind the officer, then looked at Rick.

"Three's better than two." said Daryl, nodding.

Rick looked at Daryl, gave a ghost of a smile before dropping his gun. Then Daryl zip-tied the officers hands, who winced because of the wound Anna had given him. The deep wound was bleeding, and it was seeping into his uniform.

Daryl pushed the officer forward, and Rick pulled Anna next to him, stepping quickly to keep up with Daryl.

"Better warn me next time," Rick told her. "You both could'a died."

Anna's nose crinkled, jerking away from Rick's grip on her arm, "But we didn't."

Rick frowned and Anna put her knife away, bringing her gun back out, but leaving it at her side. Annoyance was growing in her stomach, which was still unsettled and churning, and Anna just wanted to get back to their base.

"Yet you risked dying," Rick's sentence dropped off, but Anna knew where it was headed, it didn't really take a genius; he was talking about her being pregnant and risking that by attacking.

"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm useless and it _certainly doesn't mean_ I'm going to cower away." Anna's tone had a poisonous bite to it.

Rick sighed, but kept him mouth shut, and Anna, angrier than she had been, stepped quicker to get away from him. She stepped into pace with the officer and Daryl, leaving Rick behind her.


	14. FOURTEEN

**FOURTEEN:**

Daryl, Rick, Anna and the officer met up with the others and together walked back to their new base.

"You're friend, what's his name?" asked the female officer. "I need to talk to him. Your plan is going to get me and my friends killed."

"We're goin' to make it work." said Sasha, her face plain and eyes not even glancing at them.

"It would work if you had different cops to trade." she said, and Sasha and Tyreese turned to look at her, Daryl and Anna eventually doing the same. "Dawn's running Grady into the ground. A bunch of us want her out and she knows it. Pretty sure she knows we want Lamson to replace her."

"Dawn doesn't know that." replied the cop that had driven the car, after his stab wound was patched up and thankfully it wasn't very deep.

"She might." the female officer said, "She's smart. There's a chance you can't make this deal work and that'll leave us all dead. But if you let us go, we'll take care of Dawn ourselves and we'll let your friends go and this is over."

"No, we're not going to do that." Lamson said.

"Do you want to die?"

"No, I just need you to shut up right now." Lamson told her. "You can make this work, but you gotta be able to talk to her."

"Noah told us all about her." Sasha told him.

"I've known her for eight years, ma'am. I know this woman and my only interest is peaceful resolution. Not dying and sleeping in my bed tonight. So please, let me help you."

The group looked at each other for second, eyeing each other carefully, and they came to an agreement.

"Hey, Rick!" Daryl called, looking further into the base, were Rick and Noah were looking over their plans. "You're gonna wanna hear this."

* * *

Sasha and Tyreese had went out to scavenge supplies from the car the others had come in. They came back not long after going outside, and they found Lamson handcuffed to one of the pillars, and Rick talking to him.

"She'll tell you she won't make a deal." Lamson told Rick. "She'll tell you she won't compromise. But she will. She always does. Just—just know who you're talkin' to."

Rick nodded, "Probably headin' out in the next ten minutes or so. Anything you need before we leave?"

"Actually, water would be great."

"Will do. Thanks, Sargent Lamson." Rick got up from crouching beside Lamson and back upright.

"My name's Bob."

Sasha looked over at him, in almost shock, but she hid it well.

"You're still a cop,"

Anna tuned them out, sitting on the ground by the far wall, sipping a bottle of water. She was silently nursing away morning sickness that had been triggered by the dead bodies; she had been fine that morning, for the most part. It was something Anna was going to have to get used to, after all, she was going to be like this for a good while.

She wanted to be back at the church, sleeping peacefully. Instead, she was in the middle of a situation that could go either way, with people who still weren't so fond of her.

* * *

Sasha stayed alone with the zip-tied cops, while the others gathered supplies and things they would need. But Sasha had been deceived by Lamson, where she ended up unconscious and he ended up running away.

Rick pursued him, was able to get a cop car and ask him to stop. When Lamson did not, Rick hit him with the car, got out and shot him in the head.

Upon hearing the shot, Anna got to her feet, worried now more than before. She doubted Lamson was the one who fired the gun, so it would only make sense if it had been Rick. Now, she didn't know the circumstances at which the gun went off, it could have been self-defence or plain murder. The latter seemed more likely, only because Anna had witnessed him do that very thing herself, and it sent a wave of foreboding down her spine.

Sure, Lamson had wronged Sasha, and therefore the entire group, but the shot put to the forefront of Anna's mind that that could have been her; that it still could be her if she didn't watch herself.


	15. FIFTEEN

**FIFTEEN:**

When Rick returned, everyone was still very silent. The two remaining cops were seated in chairs, where Sasha, Tyreese, Noah, and Anna were. Daryl walked away and towards Rick when he entered.

"He wouldn't stop." Rick explained to Daryl, however all heard.

"That's changed things." Daryl said.

"It has to."

"Maybe not." said Daryl, thinking.

"Well she said the plan won't work, the guy who did is dead. Maybe we gotta rethink this." Rick leaned close, whispering.

"He also said the cop in charge didn't have any love for him. Maybe you did her a favor."

"I don't know if they'll play ball."

"Let's find out."

Rick and Daryl walked back over to the group, and before they could say anything the female cop spoke up, "He was a good man. He was attacked by Rotters, saw it go down."

Rick grunted, nodding, "You're a damn good liar."

"We're hanging by a thread here. He was attacked by Rotters, that's the story." she said a little more fiercely.

"So the trade was a bad idea?" questioned Daryl. "What changed?"

"Lamson was our shot. So it's this or you go in guns blazing, right? You don't want that."

Daryl pointed at her for a second, "That's some bullshit you're spinnin' goes sidewa—"

"I know! I know the good ones from the bad. Let us help you."

Everyone looked at Rick, but Anna kept her gaze at the ground, mostly annoyed they were in this situation.

"What about you?" Rick looked at the male cop, stepping closer. "You wanna live? How much?"

"Dawn's afraid she'll look weak in front of us. Think it'll tip things against you." he looked at the cop beside him for a moment. "No, no, it will. She'll see this trade as a ripoff if she thinks you took out one of her guys. So it's a good thing Lamson got his by Rotters."

Rick's eyebrows furrowed for a second before turning to look at Daryl. Daryl nodded in return.

* * *

"You're with me." Rick told Anna, as she was about to go off with the others to go to the rooftop. It was supposed to be a sign of a bit of a truce, to try and get to know her a little better.

Anna frowned, raising an eyebrow.

"You've got your knives, and you're not that bad with a gun. I want you by my side down there." Rick said to her, and it went unsaid that it was partially because she stuck her neck out for Daryl and risked her own life. He was going to need that.

Anna said nothing, but followed after Rick to the spot.

"_They're headed towards the vantage point_." Tyreese told them over the radio.

"Okay, copy that." Rick replied.

Anna placed her knives and gun in her belt behind her, so they were not seen, but accessible. As the blue cop car pulled around towards them, Rick started forward, Anna following, both with their hands up.

The car stopped, two male cops got out, guns drawn. Rick and Anna kept going forward, before stopping.

"Officer Franco, Officer McGinley, I'm Rick Grimes and this is Anna. . .Smith." Rick didn't know her last name and it was the first one that came to mind. Anna didn't seem to care, her face was expressionless, her lips in a hard line. "I was a Deputy in the Kings County Sheriff's Department. We're here to make a proposal."

"Lay your weapons on the ground." said Officer Franco.

"Alright." Rick nodded, reaching to grab his gun and putting it on the ground.

Anna did the same, reaching around for only her gun, and not revealing any of her knives. Rick and Anna shared a sideways glance when Rick noticed she did not lay down her knives. To the officers it might have been a useless weapon that was used for close combat, but a knife in Anna's hand was certainly deadly.

"What's your proposal?" Both Officer's stepped forward.

"You have two of my people, I have two of yours. We want to make an exchange, then we'll be on our way. No one gets hurt."

"Who?"

"Officer Shepard and Lechery for Beth and Carol. You picked up a woman yesterday after your people hit her with a car."

"Noah, he's with you, that's how you know?" Officer McGinley asked.

"Yes he is."

"What about Officer Lamson?"

"He was attacked by the dead before we got to him." Rick told them, with a straight face.

Anna swallowed hard, but otherwise made no movement, her hands unmoving at her side. And just then a Walker rounded the same corner the Officer's had used. Everyone saw, but no one moved.

"Where are the rest of your people?"

A shot rang through the air from the top of the roof and the Walker fell, dead. It seemed to answer his question.

"They're close." said Rick. "Radio your Lieutenant. We'll wait."

* * *

The group took the two cops when they went to the hospital. The Officers led them there, after radioing in. Everyone was on edge as they passed down the quiet hallways. After walking up several flights of stairs, and numerous halls, they came to a door.

Rick looked through the window first, to see all the cops on the other side holster their weapons. He caught sight of Beth and Carol just behind them.

"_Holster your weapons_." Dawn said through radio.

"You too." Rick told the group, and everyone complied.

Anna felt very uneasy about not having one of her knives in her hand, a sense of helplessness almost without it. Anna took a deep breath and tried to look passed it.

The doors opened and the group walked through and down the hall towards the others. The others stepped aside and let Beth and Carol come through, Beth wheeling Carol along. They didn't go far, just enough to be seen when the two Officers—Franco and McGinley— walked forward to meet the other officers.

Among the others was a very familiar face, at least, familiar to Anna. His light brown hair was in a mess, looking unkempt and raggedy, a small beard to match and his piercing eyes cut through her, the blue of his eyes strikingly resembling that of Anna's. Her face contorted and her stomach dropped, simply staring across the way at him.

His gaze never wavered, and behind him stood a woman vaguely familiar to Anna, her dark red hair falling down in curls to her chest, a set of hazel eyes staring confusedly at her.

Anna stared at her estranged brother in shock that he was still alive and that she had found him at the hospital, of all places.

"Adam?" Anna finally choked out, blinking as if he would disappear.

With the same amount of bewilderment, Adam answered, "Anna?"

At the exchange, both sides looked at the siblings, curious and shocked. Dawn turned to Adam and Rick turned to Anna.

"Who is that?" Rick asked Anna, turning his head to look down at her.

"My brother." Anna answered, almost in a shameful whisper. She assumed him dead, and since they had stopped talking before the outbreak, she barely thought of him after the fact.

Rick frowned, his eyebrows scrunching together. He didn't know she had a brother, then again he rarely talked to her.

Neither sibling made a movement, even after Adam told Dawn. There was a pause, before Rick cleared his throat.

"They haven't been harmed." Rick called over, lying because in actuality Anna had stabbed one of them, but all agreed he would be fine and he had attacked them first.

"Where's Lamson?" Dawn asked.

"Rotters got him." the female officer said.

"We saw it go down." the male officer continued.

Dawn, as if knowing, replied, "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. He was one of the good guys." She seemed to have tears in her eyes. "One of yours for one of mine."

Rick nodded, looked at Daryl, who then pushed the male officer forward and one of the cops took the wheelchair and wheeled Carol to meet them in the middle.

Then Dawn grabbed Beth by the arm and walked to the middle with her. Rick walked forward with the female officer and let her keep walking and Rick side-hugged Beth when she got to him.

Anna, upon seeing Carol again, smiled, to which she got one back. Anna looked back at Beth, and saw a bit of Jenny, and wondered if she would be more accepting towards her. She knew Beth was Maggie's sister, and Maggie had been neutral towards her when they left, so Anna hoped for the same or maybe a little kindness.

"Glad we could work things out." Dawn said.

"Yeah." Rick nodded.

Beth went to join the others, that were all behind Rick. She glanced at Anna, confused, before giving a tiny smile. It was no place for introductions, but Anna figured that could be for the ride home; to get to know someone new.

Carol was out of the wheelchair, and everyone was starting to walk away, including Anna, when Dawn spoke up, her statement ringing hard with everyone in the group,

"Now I just need Noah and then you can leave."

Rick and Daryl turned, starting to walk forward, and Noah was limping forward, too, but Rick walked ahead of both.

"That wasn't part of the deal."

"Noah was my Ward, Beth took his place and I'm losing her so I'm gonna need him back."

"Ma'am, please," started the female officer.

"Shut up." snapped Dawn. "My officers put their lives on the line to find him. One of them died."

Noah moved forward, but Daryl pushed him back, "He ain't stayin'."

"He's one of mine, you have no claim on him."

Daryl went to stand next to Rick.

"The boy wanted to go home, so you have no claim on him."

"Well, then, we don't have a deal."

"The deal is done." argued Rick.

"It-it's okay." Noah stepped forward.

"No," Rick put his arm out to stop him. "No, it's not."

Noah faced Rick, "I gotta do it." Noah tried to hand Rick the gun back, which he took.

"It's not okay." said Beth, stepping away from the others behind her.

"Then it's settled."

"Wait!" Beth ran forward to Noah and hugged him, and he told her it would be okay.

"I knew you'd be back." Dawn whispered to Noah, and Beth's eyes rose to glare at Dawn.

Beth stepped back from the hug, eyes trained on Dawn. Beth stopped in front of her, "I get it now."

The next couple of seconds passed so quickly, you could have missed it if you blinked. Beth stabbed Dawn with a small pair of scissors, and Dawn, surprised, shot her gun. The bullet passed through Beth's skull, killing her, the blood splatter hitting Rick. Dawn, with a look of fear, caught Beth's falling body, gun still in hand, the shell casing echoing off the floor.

Everyone stared in horror, but every movement was drowned out by silence. Daryl moved first, unholstering his gun and shot Dawn in the forehead, killing her. When she fell to the ground, everyone's guns were out and aimed at the opposing side.

"No! Hold your fire!" shouted the female officer. "It's over! It was just about her. Stand down."

Anna, with Gareth's knife in her hand in a ready throwing position, tightened her grip, hand moving slowly for one of her own knives. Anna seemed to be the only one without tears in her eyes, but a great sense of loss filled her.

Her officers drew back their guns. Carol came forward and pushed down Daryl's arm that was holding a gun and he turned to look at Beth's dead body, the blood still seeping from the open wound.

Noticing Rick had yet to put down his gun, Anna reluctantly stepped forward to stand beside him. She didn't want anyone else dying today. She grabbed Rick's shoulder and pulled down, drawing his attention. He looked at her, tears in his blue eyes and he looked down. Anna moved her hand down his arm and pushed again before he put his arm down.

"You can stay." offered the female officer.

"We're surviving here. It's better than out there."

Rick looked up at them, "No. And if anyone back there wants to leave, if you want to come with us, just step forward now."

Adam made his way through the few cops that had stood in front of him, the familiar woman trailing behind him, their hands linked. They both came forward, guns strapped across them, with a knife in each of their belts. Other than them no one else moved forward.

Rick gave Anna's shoulder a squeeze in slight thanks for her reassuring hand, and though Anna stiffened at his touch, she made no hostile remark nor did she move away. She understood he was mourning, and though she wished to retaliate the same way he did when Gareth died, she couldn't find it in herself to do so at the exact moment.

Anna watched them approach the group, and Adam, at about the same height as Rick, nodding at him and Rick nodded back. However, Rick would have to talk to both of them before they actually became members of the group. Anna felt both happy and angry they had made their way to them. She was glad he was alive and that maybe they could reconnect, but it also ran the risk of them fighting and parting ways, again.

Daryl was carrying Beth's body outside, and it was the first thing Maggie saw when the group exited the hospital. They all decided to leave the church and come help get Beth with the others. Turned out, Eugene had been a liar and he had no idea for a cure

Maggie broke down, starting to scream and cry and Glenn kneeled down to try and comfort her. It was a sight that sent a piercing stab into Anna's heart, remembering her own loss and sadness. Tear welled up in her eyes, but for a different reason than anyone else

Anna stayed beside Rick, but had the urge to go beside Michonne or Tara, even her brother, someone she was more comfortable with. Yet she didn't move, and her head went to the ground as she silently cried for all the bad fortune in the world.


	16. SIXTEEN

**SIXTEEN:**

The group had started back to the church, most aboard the firetruck, but a few elected to walk to the car and get back that way. Rick, Daryl, Anna, her brother and the mystery woman offered to do just that.

Back at the truck, Anna, Adam and the mystery woman got into the back, while Rick and Daryl got in the front, starting the drive back to the church.

"How have you been?" Adam spoke up, sitting across from Anna, looking directly at her.

Incredulously, Anna's eyes snapped to meet his, "_How have I been_?" she growled. "How the hell do you think I've been?"

Adam blinked, however was not surprised. "You're still alive—"

"No shit."

Adam rolled his eyes and sighed, "I didn't know you'd be alive nor did I think I'd ever find you."

"Well maybe you'd have known I was alive if you hadn't run off to Atlanta," Anna sneered, her face mixed with rage and annoyance. "and left me in that _God forsaken town_ with our _God forsaken parents_."

Adam sighed and closed his eyes, trying to be patient with his little sister. "I had the chance to leave."

Anna's nose scrunched up in distaste, "But you _left_ me."

"I'm sorry for that, I'm not sorry I left."

Anna rolled her eyes, looking to the red-head she still didn't know. Anna only had a sense of familiarity with her.

"This is Hannah, remember her?" Adam wondered, glancing at the woman beside him before looking back at Anna.

Realization struck Anna and she remembered where she had seen her. This was Adam's girlfriend, she had been before he left and part of the reason he had.

"Yeah, I remember." Anna's tone was far from pleasant.

"She's my wife."

Shocked, Anna started at her brother with wide eyes. "Thanks for inviting me to the wedding."

Adam sighed again, more heavily this time, "It wasn't a very big event, we maybe had a dozen guests."

"Still, I _loved_ that invitation." Anna replied sarcastically.

Adam frowned but said nothing more and the truck fell back into silence.

* * *

Back at the church, there was a plan to bury Beth, take a breather, and get back on the road. Apparently, Beth was going to help Noah get home and since she hadn't been able to do that, the group felt as if it was up to them to do it for her.

After Beth's funeral, buried beside Bob, practically everyone was in tears. Anna had stood beside Tara and Michonne and walked with them back to the front steps to collect themselves.

Rick pulled both Adam and Hannah aside, wishing to get them semi-alone to talk with them.

"How many Walkers have you killed?"

"Between the two of us? About two dozen." Adam answered evenly.

"How many humans?"

Adam's eyes knitted together, glancing at Hannah then back to Rick, "One."

"Why?"

"He was attacking Hannah, I didn't have another choice."

Rick looked at Hannah, about to ask the same question.

"One. The man was attacking me and I had to defend myself." Hannah answered, her voice not wavering.

Rick nodded, "Welcome to the group."

Adam and Hannah let out relieved breaths, giving Rick a small smile in thanks. Rick walked away and started to Abraham and Daryl, to discuss the supplies they had and would need while Adam and Hannah started towards Anna.

Anna stood up from sitting on the steps, nodded at both Michonne and Tara and stepped towards her brother. Adam was frowning, looking around at the graves before looking at Anna.

"Lost some?"

"Beth and Bob, who got bit," replied Anna, before suddenly looking very sad. "and Gareth."

Adam raised an eyebrow at his sister, curious at her mood change from annoyance to great sadness.

"We've all been through shit." Anna explained vaguely. "We do what we can."

Adam narrowed his eyes at his sister, wanting to know more. "Who was he?"

Defensive, Anna replied, "You wouldn't understand."

Anna didn't want to say more, because he hadn't been there, he didn't know what she sacrificed for survival; he didn't know all they shared. He would look at her as if she was some kind of monster if he knew about Terminus, and now that she had her brother back she, at least, wanted to be civil with him.

Adam scoffed, crossing his arms, "Try me."

Hannah looked between them, sensing the tension and foreseeing the arguments. They were both hard-heads and stubborn, but the outbreak had changed them from what they were into different people. Hannah knew how Adam acted, but Anna was unpredictable to her.

Anna scowled, "I loved him and he was murdered, _okay_?"

Surprised, Adam gaped at his sister, "Who killed him? Why is he buried away from the others?"

"Now," Anna smiled tightly. "that's something you _really _wouldn't understand."

Anna turned on her heel and walked back to Michonne and Tara, leaving both Adam and Hannah more confused then before.

* * *

The plan was to leave that morning with the cars they had scavenged, and since there was no room left in the car both Rick and Anna were going to inhabit (against Anna's wishes) Adam and Hannah would have to travel with Carol.

Now that Adam and Hannah were considered part of the group, they thought best to try and get to know the others. However, news traveled quickly among group members and Adam, having asked about his sister, heard just about everything since she helped them at Terminus.

Adam was angry at his sister's poor choices and before they were going to set off for Noah's home, he strode over to her.

"How could you not tell me you were pregnant?" Adam asked his sister, tone low but Anna could tell he sounded angry.

Shocked he had such information, Anna stared at her brother with wide eyes and parted lips that tried to say something, but nothing formed. Instead, she got angry, "Who told you?"

Adam frowned down at his sister, eyebrows knitting together, "Answer the question."

Anna swallowed hard, her face like stone, "Because it didn't matter, I haven't seen you in years, so why did you deserve to know?"

Adam raised his eyebrows incredulously, "Because I'm your _brother_! Because we're in the middle of a _Goddamn apocalypse_ and _you're pregnant_!"

"When has the term '_brother_' and '_sister_' mattered to you? A '_brother_' would not leave his '_sister_' alone to suffer!"

"Enough of that! I get it; I left you and you hated me for it. Grow up, I ain't gone anymore!"

Anna sneered, her face screwing up in distaste. Anna felt cornered, trapped like a wounded animal and she had to react defensively to protect herself from anymore harm.

"Is what they say true?" Adam asked after a long pause, his voice soft like a whisper, his head leaned down towards his sister. "About that place, Terminus and Gareth?"

Looking away from him, partly ashamed, she answered, "Depends on what _they_ said."

"People at Terminus were cannibals?" Anna nodded, so Adam continued, "Gareth was their leader and you were there?" Another nod. "You save the group?" Another nod. "Gareth's group was going to kill these people and instead Rick killed them?" After a moment Anna nodded, her eyes shiny and Adam sighed, "And Gareth is the father?"

"Yes."

Adam took a step back, his hand going through his hair and he looked at his sister bewildered by all her actions. "Jesus, Anna."

Anna's back straightened, "Like I said, you wouldn't understand; you didn't know the shit I've done to survive in this shit world. I was acting for myself, and yeah, along the way I got caught up in some messy business and fell in love with Gareth. Now I can't really just act for my life, I gotta also protect the one inside me. So go ahead and judge me, Adam, but I'd like to point out _I'm still alive_."

Angry, she turned on her heel and marched back into the church to grab the final supplies, leaving Adam to digest everything he had just heard.


	17. SEVENTEEN

**Hey, thanks to those who have reviewed on any of the chapters and I just want to know if you're liking it so far? Anything you would change or anything you want to see? And quick question, do you want to see Anna end up with anyone else? If so, who? I've had an idea since the beginning, but just curious to what you all think.**

* * *

**SEVENTEEN:**

The miles they traveled seemed almost endless, the only marker that they were getting anywhere were the signs that welcomed you to a new state. In between each sign was a long stretch that seemed to drive Anna mad.

Her only salvation—beyond taking breaks to look for food or fuel—was the time around dawn where she found herself needing to get out of the car due to morning sickness. Although most of the group was impatient to get to Virginia, they were also thankful for those tiny breaks.

The one car with Tyreese—the driver—Noah, who had passenger's seat, Rick and Michonne who sat in the middle and Glenn and Anna sharing the back, was mostly silent. Conversation picked up now and again, but most enjoyed staring out the window.

"How far out?" Rick asked.

"Five miles." Noah told him.

Rick nodded before picking up the radio that had been in his lap, "Hey, Carol?"

There was a pause, "_I'm here._"

"We're halfway there. Just wanted to check the range." Rick said, referring the the radio range.

"_Everybody's holding tight. Made it five-hundred miles, maybe this can be the easy part_."

"Gotta think we're due. Give us twenty minutes to check in."

"_We don't hear from you we'll coming looking_."

"Copy that."

Then Noah went into talking with Tyreese, trying to tell him his call back in Atlanta _did_ work, just something else happened after.

Anna, consumed back into her own mind, didn't hear much else. She was staring out the window to the blur of green, lost in her thought.

With Adam—and ultimately Hannah—back in the picture stirred up more stress for her. They hadn't been through what the group had been through; they weren't on the same page as everybody else, therefore they didn't understand her decisions.

It made her angry, that not only were her motives going to be questioned by Rick—and the other group members—but now her brother too. The stress was getting to her, her life crumbling and she did all she could to hold up the pieces so to everyone else she looked put together— strong.

Her life was a mess and it was only a matter of time before either a) someone found out or b) she fell apart. However, she took pride in being able to appear fine, because in reality she was sad and lonely, exhausted and near the end of her rope.

There had been too much loss recently, and not just of life but of things Anna was used to. Terminus had been her home—even if she felt like a prisoner, it was still familiar and _home_—and she'd tore herself away from it, only to find the church. Granted, she wasn't there long, she had grown used to it. Now the only stable thing in her life was the baby and the group—and those things were not even certain—what was certain, however, was the dead.

And that, itself, was a haunting thought.

* * *

Tyreese pulled off into the woods, close to their final destination. They all went to exit, but Rick took notice to Anna not moving, her eyes staring down at her hands.

"Hey, Anna," Rick called her attention.

Anna looked up suddenly, not realizing she had been lost, only to stare at Rick.

"We're here. Going on foot, just in case."

"Right. Okay."

And she exited the car without another word.

Noah led them on, but everyone still kept an eye or ear out _just in case_. Anna kept up with those up front, unfortunately landing herself next to Rick. She walked with a stone face, eyes void of most emotion, one hand on Gareth's knife, the other on the gun Rick had let her keep.

"I noticed you and your brother weren't exactly on the best terms, any particular reason why?" Rick wondered, his voice low due to not wanting to make a lot of noise.

Anna gave Rick a sideways glance, her eyebrows furrowing, before sarcastically replying, "Was it that obvious?"

Rick frowned at her.

Clenching her jaw, Anna answered, "He once promised he'd never leave me and if he ever did he'd bring me along. In my hometown it was easy to get stuck and never leave. And he broke his promise and we hadn't been in contact for years—that is until a few days ago."

"And Hannah?"

"She was the one who encouraged my brother to leave." Anna replied, her nose screwing up for a moment. "Why do you want to know so much?"

"They're new, figured I'd learn as much as I could." Rick shrugged.

"From me?" Anna chuckled, "You hate me," She was about to add that she felt the same, but Rick spoke first,

"You're right, I'm not your biggest fan, but you're part of this group and you're pregnant, which can't be easy for you. Figured I'd calm the air to make it a little easier; we should at least be civil."

"I guess you have a point; united we stand, divided we fall or whatever."

Rick chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, sounds 'bout right."

* * *

Noah's home was no more, he took the news like a heavy blow, his life crumbling. Tyreese stayed with him and the others went to scavenge from the houses. It was suggested they stay, but someone countered in say that they couldn't risk whoever had done it to do it again.

While they were separated, Noah tried to run to them, but got surrounded. The others found and helped him, to which Noah informed them that Tyreese had been bit.

Everyone ran as quick as they could to Tyreese, who was out of it, and cut off his arm that had the bite. He was losing blood fast and they had to get him back to the car. Rick, Michonne, Glenn and Anna helped carry him, Noah leading them along.

However, back in the car and driving back to the others, Tyreese let go. Upon realizing this, they had to put a knife into his head to make sure he didn't return, and then, after reuniting with everyone else, buried him in an open field.

Everyone took his death hard, Sasha especially, since she had just lost Bob. Anna pitied her, but never opened her mouth to comfort her. Although Adam and Hannah had not known Tyreese for very long, they grieved with the others, tears in their eyes.

No one knew where to go from here; their plan had not worked as they had hoped. They now had to cross the bridge, where the other side was completely unknown to them.


	18. EIGHTEEN

**EIGHTEEN:**

Through some unspoken miracle, Anna and Adam were becoming more like the siblings they once were. Perhaps it was their impending doom and the fact that they had minimal water and even less food. Either way, they were speaking, slightly stressed due to their time apart, but civil.

As a group, they decided to continue to Washington, that maybe something was still there. And not very far into their journey their cars broke down—as in no more fuel—and had to carry out the rest of their journey on foot.

They walked in the heat of the day, Rick carrying Judith at the front, Daryl at his side and Anna and Adam just in behind them. Hannah lagged in pace, but stayed by Adam's side. Rick turned and Daryl glanced over his shoulder to see Walkers traveling behind them. They were slow, and at their pace they were not a threat yet.

"I admit, we're not at our strongest." Rick said, referring to the Walkers, "We'll get 'em when it's best. High ground, somethin' like that. They're not going anywhere."

It was quiet among all the others, and Judith made a small sound of discomfort before all fell silent again.

"It's been three weeks since Atlanta. I know you lost somethin' back there." Judith made another sound.

"She's hungry." Daryl stated.

"She's okay. She's going to be okay."

"We need to find water. Food."

"We'll hit some in the road. It'll rain sooner or later."

"I'm going to head out, see what I can find." Daryl passed his gun to Rick.

"Hey, don't be too long." Rick told him.

Carol then insisted she go, and they both disappeared into the shade of the forest around them. The others continued down the road, walking because they had to.

"Anna, how are you doing?" Hannah suddenly spoke up.

Anna turned her head to raise an eyebrow, "About as good as anyone else."

Hannah frowned, "Well, if you start not feeling well please tell me."

Right after they started their journey it was revealed that Hannah had been a doctor in Atlanta. And since they hadn't had a decent meal or a lot of water in a while, Hannah grew concerned for everyone, especially Anna and Judith.

Anna hummed in response, looking forward again. Hannah gave Adam's hand a squeeze before turning to make sure the others were as good as they could be in the situation.

"She means well." Adam told Anna after a moment of silence.

"If she didn't ask me every mile I'd feel the same." Anna replied, her tone dry.

Adam sighed, "She's just very concerned with your, uh, condition. Hell, I'm worried."

"Condition? Adam, we're not twelve, you can say pregnant without hurting my feelings." said Anna.

"No, I just—in this situation it can't be easy to deal with."

"That point has already been established. I'm dealing with it. Move on." Anna rolled her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose.

"Can I just say one more thing?" Adam didn't wait for Anna to reply. "At least you have Hannah and I, you know? Now that I've got you back, I don't plan on letting you go. Plus, we've got a group. Better in numbers and whatnot."

Anna chuckled, "Yeah, yeah."

Hannah walked up passed the siblings and went to check on Judith. Rick, however thankful to have a doctor within the group and one that was concerned for the well-being of his daughter, was becoming slightly annoyed by her constant asking. Rick did not let it show, and instead, thanked her.

Rick handed Judith off to Carl, who took his sister with care. The moans and groans from the Walkers could be heard from behind them, making it very obvious they were there. Anna was growing uneasy by each minute the Walkers spent behind them. She needed to keep whatever energy she had left and could do nothing about it.

Sweat trickled down Anna's brow, but she didn't have the energy or will to wipe it away. Her hair was in her face, sticking to her skin no matter how many times she had tried to push it away and behind her ears.

Anna thoughts were becoming every pessimistic, believing that this was how she was going to die. Fall for heat exhaustion or dehydration and then be eaten by Walkers and become on herself. These thoughts laid heavy on her mind, and her mind seemed to weigh her down more.

* * *

The group approached a bridge in the road, and a plan had formed to rid the Walkers from their tail. Members waited on each side for the Walkers approach.

Four waited on each side, eight in total, while the others waited at the other end of the bridge. Rick, Glenn, Anna and Michonne were to the right and Abraham, Maggie, Adam and Sasha to the left.

Rick led a few Walkers to the very edge, only to push them over or have them fall over themselves. The others followed his lead, pushing as many as they could.

Sasha got real close to one, grabbing it's neck before stabbing it in the head.

"Sasha!" Michonne hissed at her; this _was not_ the plan.

"Stay in line," Rick said, unsheathing his red-handled knife. "Keep it controlled."

"Plan just got dicked." Abraham said.

Anna grabbed Gareth's knife and started taking down Walkers, only once having to throw her knife to keep one away from her. Anna turned, took down another one, only to see Rick get grabbed by two Walkers. Anna threw her knife at the first one and was about to throw the second when Daryl came from the trees and killed it.

She went a retrieved her knife from the Walkers head and Rick nodded to her in thanks, she nodded back. Anna realized you did this sort of thing for group members, without someone telling you to do so or without wanting any sort of thanks. You were expected to protect the group as they were to protect you.

Michonne beheaded the last Walker with her katana, after pushing Sasha to the ground. Michonne had told her to "get outta here", but Sasha had not listened, blinded by her anger.

Michonne pointed angrily at Sasha, "I t_old you_ to _stop_."

Sasha got to her feet and stared at Michonne before walking away.

Anna put her knives away, cleaning Gareth's on some Walkers clothes, before joining up with her brother and walking together to the others at the end of the bridge.

Although Adam was good with knives, being the one who had taught Anna when they were still teenagers, Anna was better with them. However, Adam was very skilled with his gun, being a very good shot, a much better one than Anna.

The group continued down the road, mostly quiet.

"Dad, look." said Carl, gesturing ahead of them.

Everyone stared.


	19. NINETEEN

**NINETEEN:**

There were cars, seeming to have crashed or have been abandoned in a rush. The group continued forward, towards them, while Daryl went out and around to be safe.

Anna went to inspect a blue SUV, with grimy windows and a bent bumper. Anna ran her over the rear window to peer inside and to check for Walkers. Finding none, she opened the back to sort through the boxes she had seen.

Adam appeared at her side, "Anything good?"

Anna glanced at him from the corner of her eye, "No."

"Humph. I found this neat flask. Empty, though." Adam held up a silver flask about the size of his hand, with a black etching of circular design.

"Reminds me of Mother's." said Anna, her tone distant, her eyes appearing glazed over as she remembered.

Adam frowned, looking harder at it and bad memories resurfaced. "You're right." And he chucked it into the forest beside him as hard as he could, with an angry grunt.

Anna watched it disappear into the brush before turning her attention back to the boxes. She opened one that had been taped shut and pushed it for Adam to open while she grabbed the other one.

Upon opening it, she realized a family must have used this car and had boxed their belongings. Inside were baby clothes, fit for a newborn and even some about Judith's size. Anna stared down at it, her hands running over the material.

"Nice." Adam held up a green camping water bottle, only to open it and find it empty. He placed it by his side and peered inside the box again. "I've got some minimal camping gear."

Anna said nothing, and Adam took notice to her silence. He looked over at her, then at the box. He, too, stared for a moment.

"Well, ah, at least we have something for the future."

"If we ever get one." Anna replied, her tone dry and void of most emotion.

Hannah walked over just as Adam was putting the camping gear at his feet: this included another empty water bottle, some knife holders (but no knives or other weapons), and a flashlight without any batteries. Everything else seemed to be taken.

Hannah had found a small bag that was now slung over her shoulder. "Found a book, too. I'll try to read it if I get the chance." Hannah held up Romeo and Juliet. "I never read it in high school; I hear it's a great romance."

"It's a tragedy." said Anna, slightly offended. "I taught high school English class before this and studied literature and it's a tragedy."

Hannah frowned, glancing at the book. Hannah wondered, briefly, how it was a tragedy but took Anna at her word.

"Did you guys find anything?" asked Hannah, putting the book into her bag.

"Yeah, could we put these into your bag, Hannah? We can give some of these clothes to Rick later, I'm sure he'll need them soon."

"Course." Hannah handed over her bag, to which Anna and Adam started filling it with the baby clothes. "Are there any more boxes?"

Anna looked over to the last box, which had been taped shut several times. It looked dirtier than the rest, like it had been dropped and dragged across the earth. She grabbed Gareth's knife and flipped it once in her hand, before bringing the box closer.

It was heavy, and with a simple motion Anna slid the blade across the tape, opening the box. What greeted her was a gruesome sight of decay, death and blood—lots of blood.

Heads of the dead were inside, Anna counted three along with other body parts. Anna's nose screwed up as she looked in horror at the box.

Blood was now seeping from the bottom of the box and into the back of the car and down to the pavement. Part of the bottom had been torn open when Anna moved it.

Hannah made a small sound of fright and quickly looked away. Adam grunted in disgust, frowning and drawing his knife from his side.

"What sick people." said Hannah, her head leaning against Adam's shoulder, evidently shielding her eyes from the sight. "'m not sure I want to take those clothes now."

Anna hummed, her eyes squinting, "Their state of mind doesn't infect the clothes they had. We need those clothes; Judith needs them."

"She does." Adam agreed with his sister.

Anna leaned over the box and stuck her knife into the ear, killing the Walker and silencing its sounds. Adam followed suit and killed the other two, while Anna turned and started away. The stench had been affecting her.

Adam closed the trunk door and followed after his sister, grabbing Hannah's hand.

"Sick people exist," Anna started, hearing their approach. "But that doesn't make what they had any less valuable. We take what we can now; we do what we can to survive."

* * *

After continuing their journey, they ran into a few dogs while sitting on the side of the road. Sasha shot them and they were turned into dinner. Not everyone was onboard with it, but mostly everyone ate anyway.

They got what they could, and they _really_ needed it.

Although Anna hesitated at first, she kept herself eating under Rick's stare. It seemed to be burning the side of her head, but since she started eating the burning faded. She remained silent, staring at the small fire in front of her.

Daryl disappeared after a few minutes, his excuse being about looking for water. No one disagreed, just asked him to hurry back because they were getting back on the road soon.

"Rick," Anna addressed, her nerves eating up her stomach; she was scared-scared of dying. "What're we gonna do?"

Rick looked at her, and frowned, "I don't know."

His answer worried her more, and she bit her lip. Noticing his answer unsettled her, Rick tried to think of a way to comfort her.

"But we'll think of something." Rick assured.

Swallowing, Anna nodded, "Yeah, of course we will."

Though, she didn't truly believe it.

* * *

"Don't touch it!"

The group had come across water—left for them, from "a friend"—in the road with a note. Everyone, so desperately, wanted to drink it, but no one moved. Abraham brought forward a worry in everyone, a fear that it was poisoned.

Eugene, though, moved forward and tried to drink a bottle. Abraham knocked it out of his hand.

"We don't drink it!"

But at this point, Anna was just about willing to risk poisoning herself just to soothe her dry throat. At least, after she drank it, everyone would know if it was poisoned or not.

Yet, the group moved onward, with the promise of rain from the grey clouds rolling in.

And their promise was fulfilled. It started raining and everyone was smiling, holding open their mouths to catch it. Some started opening bottles and bags to catch the rainwater to later drink. They had been, after all, dangerously low on water.

But, the clouds got darker and the rain got heavier and the winds got stronger. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked, scaring Judith and causing her to cry.

Fear started then; a bad storm was rolling in and they had no place to go.

"There's a barn!" shouted Daryl over the roar of the storm.

"Where?"

So, Daryl led them, and they settled inside. People had found places to sleep; Daryl separated himself from the others, Maggie not far off. Everyone had their own little spot, but they were still close.

Anna was resting next to her brother and Hannah, Rick across from them. Carl and Judith were sleeping not far from them, while they talked in hushed whispers.

Rick had been talking about his grandfather, who fought in World War II, "And he lived each day like he was a dead man."

It seemed to make sense, but to Anna to live such a way would strip someone of emotions, of humanity. They would turn out no better than the dead, that was not an ideal way to live. But, ideal meant something different now; ideal just meant survival.

Daryl got up suddenly, and made his way to the big barn door. A crowd of Walkers were outside, and he could see them with the flash of lightning that kept coming.

More and more of the group took notice to the problem and rushed over to help. Anna was on her feet in seconds and was running to help Daryl, others following after her. She threw her weight into the door, trying to hold it closed with all her might.

It was late and they had a long day, and they certainly did not have a lot of energy to overcome such a feat. But, with Carl now helping, Judith laying back on the ground away from the door, they held the door closed; together.

_United we stand, divided we fall._


	20. TWENTY

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far! I'd mention you by name because you deserve it, but for some reason it just removes the name every time I save it. Also, do you guys have any suggestions for baby names for Anna? I have a few ideas, but maybe yours are better!**

* * *

**TWENTY:**

Anna felt sore when she awoke; her muscles tense and used up, adding to the aching in her bones. There was a damp chill too, but it was quickly fading by the rising sun she could see through the cracks in the barn.

They all had made it another day, even after what had happened last night. Anna didn't remember going to sleep, she assumed she passed out, but what surprised her was waking up and finding that it wasn't a nightmare.

Deep inside she was still wishing to wake back up at Terminus.

Noticing that everyone else was awake and moving about, she decided to get up and try to stretch the soreness out. Her joints cracked, but it relieved her little. So instead, she began to busy herself with cleaning her knives with a still wet piece of cloth.

Anna focused on Gareth's knife more than the others; making sure it was clean of blood and dirt.

"Hey," Maggie's voice called from outside the doors before she opened them. "Everyone. This is Aaron."

Anna, who had been sitting, jumped to her feet. Everyone else did the same; the man, _Aaron_, was a stranger. Strangers could not be trusted.

Aaron had a seemingly gentle face with short brown hair and a blue plaid shirt under a jacket. Sasha came in behind him.

Everyone drew their weapons, the guns clicking, and Daryl strode forward towards the stranger Aaron but passed him to look out the door.

"We met him outside. He's by himself." said Maggie as Daryl pat him down. "We took his weapons and we took his gear."

Tara closed the door.

Rosita and Daryl stood behind Aaron, watching him carefully. Rick was directly across from him, just a ways down the barn, with Judith in his arms and a gun in his hand.

"Hi."

Judith started crying, causing Anna to begin to feel uneasy. Rick passed Judith off to Carl, who took her kindly, hushing her.

Aaron's hands were up, "Nice to meet you," and he went to step forward but everyone stepped forward, warningly and he stopped.

"You said he had a weapon?" Rick asked.

Maggie walked forward with it and Rick put his gun in its holster to grab the stranger's gun and inspect it. Rick placed it in the back of his belt.

"There something you need?"

"He has a camp." Sasha told Rick. "Nearby. He wants us to _audition_ for membership."

Anna swallowed hard, unsettled by the thought of an unknown camp (with unknown intentions) being nearby. And she was haunted by the thought of another safe haven. She stole a glance at her brother, who caught her gaze, looking uncertain.

"I wish there was another word," said Aaron. "audition makes it sound like we're some kind of dance troupe. That's only on Friday nights."

His attempt at "humor" did not settle with the group; all of their faces remained as stone.

Aaron shook his head, knowing that his attempted had failed, "And it's not a camp, it's a community. I think you all would make valuable additions. But it's not my call. My job is to convince you all to follow me back home." Aaron looked to Rick. "I know, if I were you, I wouldn't go either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into. Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?"

Sasha did not move for a moment, before walking forward with Aaron's bag and handing it to Rick.

"Front pocket, there's an envelope."

Rick put the bag on the floor to check the front pocket.

"There's no way I could convince you to come with me just by talking about our community. That's why I brought those. and I apologize in advance for the picture quality. We just found an old camera-"

Daryl interrupted. Rick held the manila envelope in his hand.

"You're absolutely one hundred percent right."

Rick pulled out the photos as Aaron explained them. The first picture was of the walls around the community, that Aaron swore guaranteed safety. Anna peered over Rick's shoulder to get a look at them; safety was _good_.

Rick stood.

"Like I said, security is obviously important. In fact, there's one resource more critical to the community's survival. The _people_."

Rick glanced back at Michonne, who was behind him, then to Adam, who was on his other side behind Anna. They stole a glance at each other.

"Together, we're strong. You can make us even stronger. The next picture" Rick started forward. "you'll see is the gates. Our community was-"

Rick, now close to Aaron, threw his arm back and then forward to punch Aaron in the jaw. Aaron was knocked out cold.

* * *

"Secure him. Dump his pack, let's see who this guy really is. Everybody else, we need eyes in every direction. They're comin' for us. We might not know how or when, but they are." Rick told them, his voice loud and full of authority.

"Me and Sasha didn't see him. If he wanted to hurt us, he could've." Maggie said to Rick.

"Anybody see anything?"

"Just a lot of places to hide." Glenn said, looking out a crack in the barn to the outside.

"Alright, keep lookin'." Rick ordered.

"What you find?" Rick asked Carl, who had dumped Aaron's bag.

Aaron started waking up; Sasha was dabbing his face with a damp piece of cloth. He looked around him, dazed for a moment, before he realized where he was. Anna watched him carefully.

"That's a helluva right cross there, Rick." said Aaron from the ground.

"Sit him up."

Michonne and Maggie helped him sit up, as he was bound.

"You're being cautious,"

Anna rolled her eyes at the obvious, having the slight desire to snap at him. Perhaps because she felt so trapped, without much of a voice-or a voice that had to be wary of what it said. She only wanted to be heard, but thankfully she kept her mouth shut.

"I completely understand."

"How many of your people are out there?" Rick asked. "You have a flare gun, to signal your people. How many?"

"Does it matter?" Aaron wondered, staring up at Rick.

"_Yes. _Yes it does_._"

"I mean, of course it does. It matters how many people are actually out there but does it matter how many people I tell you are out there? Because I'm pretty sure no matter what number I say; eight, thirty-two, four-hundred and forty-four, zero? No matter what I say you're not going to trust me."

Anna noticed the hole he was digging himself; she was sure he didn't know that but she did.

"It's hard to trust someone who smiles after they get punched in the face."

"How 'bout a guy who leaves bottles of water for you in the road?"

Anna's eyebrows raised and she felt both Hannah and Adam's eyes on her before they fell back on Aaron. Anna did not know whether to trust him or not; he seemed so genuine but her every instinct-her every experience that led her this far was telling her he was not to be trusted.

"How long you people been followin' us?" Daryl asked, stepping forward.

"Long enough to see that you practically ignore a pack of Roamers on your trail. Long enough to see that despite the lack of food and water, you never turned on each other. You're survivors. And you're people. Like I said, and I hope you don't punch me for saying it again, that _is_ the most important resource in the world."

Anna glanced around her, eyes flickering to each face and found it hard to disagree. Sure, not everyone was very fond of her or knew her very well, but she knew they would have her back in certain situations. Without them, where would she be?

_Back at Terminus_, she thought, almost bittersweetly.

On one hand, if she was back at Terminus, she would have Gareth and Jenny and a bed and clean clothes and protection and a stable home.

On the other hand, without them, she would also being feeling miserable and scared and like a monster; she would feel trapped, like a prisoner.

* * *

Aaron had said there had only been one other person out there, whether Anna believed him or not she was still cautious around him. He offered to drive them to the community, where everyone could see for themselves; they had cars too, and Michonne offered to check them out.

Rick thought there were no cars, but Michonne disagreed heavily with him. And Anna agreed with many points in Michonne's argument; if it turned out Aaron was telling the truth then Judith would have a safe place to live, she, herself, would have a safe place.

A group went to look at the cars with Michonne and the others went to look for a safe spot within eyeshot. Aaron, Rick, Judith and Anna stayed inside. Rick may have never said, but for right now, it was safer for Anna to be inside and for a weird reason he wanted her safe.

Rick thought it was because of the baby.

Anna thought he was just keeping a better eye on her.

Aaron tried to tell Rick that they were 'not bad people' and before the world went to hell that he had a gun in his face every other week.

"Just because we're good people doesn't mean we won't kill you." said Rick in a deadly tone. "If the five of them aren't back in an hour, I'll have Anna here kill you slowly. She's good with knives."

Almost startled by what seemed like a compliment, Anna just stared at Rick for a moment, before looking over at Aaron. Even Aaron caught the fire behind her eyes; they were becoming Anna's family too, and she worried for them.

* * *

Judith was crying and Anna was trying to hush her while Rick tried to smash some acorns for her to eat. But Judith was hungry and nothing Anna did soothed her (making her doubt she had any parenting skills, which was a heavy blow, given that she would be a parent soon).

"You did see the jar of applesauce in my bag, right?" Aaron called over to them. "This isn't a trick, this isn't about trying to make you like me, it's self-preservation. Because if the Roamers hear her and come this way, I know I'll be the first to go."

_At least he knows that his well-being was last on their list._ thought Anna.

Rick got a spoon and opened the jar of applesauce, taking out a tiny spoonful. He gestured to hold Judith and Anna handed her over. He then handed her the spoon.

Incredulously and almost angrily, Anna stared wide-eyed at Rick, "You're going to make _me_ eat that? I'm the one who's pregnant, and you decide to give me the apple sauce that could very well be poisoned?"

Surprised, Aaron stared at Anna, "You're pregnant?"

She looked over her shoulder at him and quirked a brow, "That'a problem?"

Anna didn't wait for his answer, instead she turned back to Rick, who shook his head.

"I meant for you to take it to him." Rick glanced over at Aaron.

Anna frowned, but was grateful she didn't have to eat something that could poison her. Sure, earlier she was going to risk poisoning herself to drink the water, but it was different then. Then she was overcome by the heat.

Anna nodded, grabbed the spoon and marched over to Aaron, putting the spoon in his face. He glanced up at her, then at the spoon.

"I'm tied up and you've already expressed a willingness to stab me, how would cruelly killing your daughter in front of you, in any way help this situation?" Aaron was looking at Rick.

Anna shoved the spoon back into his face, which he moved away from, looking disgusted.

"I hate applesauce. My mom used to make me eat foods I didn't like to make me more manly. Sam and Patty's applesauce with onions. She was a very confused woman who tried her damndest. I just brought the jar to show that we have apple trees nearby."

Judith was still crying, "Like you said, you'll be the first to go." Anna put the spoon back to his mouth.

Aaron took a bite, and swallowed it with a cringe. After a moment and seeing no sign that the food was a threat, Anna touched the spoon to her tongue and tasted the sweetness of the applesauce.

"It's good." said Anna, moving over to Rick with the spoon so he could feed Judith.

Rick started to feed Judith, taking small bites himself. Anna was leaning up against the table, watching carefully, mentally taking notes on how Rick held her, how he treated her, how he fed her; how he loved her.

Noticing her gaze, Rick looked up at her, "Want to feed her?"

Anna swallowed unsurely, but nodded slowly. She took Judith carefully before she started to feed her, smiling as she did so. Anna, as Rick had, ate some of the applesauce, enjoying each bite and savoring the taste. She didn't remember the last time she had applesauce-she didn't remember the last time she had an _apple_.

"You've got forty-three minutes." Rick told Aaron, his tone hard-even after it had been soft when he talked to Anna.

* * *

The group returned, all with canned goods salvaged from an RV, and Rick told Aaron that the food was theirs now, whether they went with him or not. Adam snuck a can of pears for his sister, after Hannah had told him that plenty of fruits and vegetables were needed for Anna's diet.

Hannah even expressed her worry for Anna's health, after not eaten good in a long while, and living on scraps the past few days. She told Adam that she hoped the community was a good place and that they could live there; Anna really needed it and to Hannah, her health (along with Judith's) was absolutely paramount.

Although, Rick did not want to go, but the rest of the group fought against him. They wanted to go.

Outside the barn, where several trees were fallen, some on Walkers, Michonne and Rick talked outside. Rick expressed worry since what happened at Woodbury and Terminus and the deceit they had; saying that both places were initially quiet about their true motives.

A curious Anna walked outside, to find both Michonne and Rick to look at her.

"Why did you go to Terminus?" Rick asked.

Anna blinked, "I thought it was a safe place. I had Jenny with me and her safety was most important to me. Of course my actions led to her demise-"

"Do you think we should go?"

"Um, why are you asking me? Surely, Daryl or Glenn or _anyone else_ could help you answer that instead."

"But, I asked you." Rick stressed. "You've dealt with Gareth and you've seen untrustworthy people first hand-you've been at their side, seen what they're like behind closed doors-seen how they act around people. Your opinion here matters."

Anna swallowed slowly, pursing her lips, slightly unsettled by Rick saying Gareth's name but didn't mention it, "I think we should give it a try, he seems genuine. Judith needs it and I'm sure the others could do with a little bit of safety right now. I know I do."

Rick nodded, looking at Michonne who looked at Rick and gave an agreed nod.

"Let's go then."


	21. TWENTY-ONE

**Would any of you be interested in a prequel book about how Anna met Gareth? I've had an idea in my head in a while now and I was wondering what you guys thought. Oh! And there's a trailer on my profile for this, made by ForgetTheS of Wattpad.**

* * *

**TWENTY-ONE:**

"How many Walkers have you killed?" Michonne's voice filled the car of Glenn-who was driving-Rick, who was sitting in the passengers seat, Michonne, Aaron and Anna in the back seat.

"I don't know. . .a lot." replied Aaron.

"How many people have you killed?"

"Two."

"Why?"

"They tried to kill me."

Anna considered that a good reason, she'd done similar and she had met people who had done it for less.

Rick had been searching the car, and what he found was some sort of radio used to listen. Rick was outraged.

"You listened to us?" Rick demanded, turning to stare at Aaron.

"I-I had to make sure you were right to come-"

Right then the car ran through a few walkers, and kept going through because they must have hit a small herd. They stopped the car to make sure that the others were still behind them. They couldn't see any cars, but Glenn assured Rick they must've gotten through.

They tried to start the car again, but due to all the guts in the engine, it wouldn't start. The walkers drew closer, and they had to make a break for it.

Anna ran with Michonne, losing sight of the others, but helped take down walkers as they made it deeper into the forest.

Eventually, though, they met back up with Rick and then Glenn and Aaron. They all managed to protect the each other and get away.

And by luck they found the others, in a town not far from where they were. Anna met up with Adam and Hannah, thankful to see them again after their little ordeal.

"Get lost of somethin'?" Anna asked her brother, an eyebrow raised.

Adam chuckled, "Somethin' like that."

Anna then met Eric, who had injured his ankle, but Maggie had helped him. Eric was the one other person that had traveled with Aaron on their way to get the group. Anna felt that they weren't going to try anything, considering one was injured and there _was_ only two of them.

They slept in that warehouse, deciding it'd be best if they left the next morning instead of right then. They wanted to gather the last of their bearings before heading off again-potentially to a dangerous place.

The next morning, Rick left for a decent amount of time, and came back empty handed. But they group set out towards what could be a new 'safe haven'. At least, that's what they all were hoping for.

And at the gates of what they called "Alexandria", they all waited, mostly nervously. Rick held Judith close, and Anna stood next to her sibling, and wrapped her arms around her stomach, one hand already on a knife.

_Just in case_.


	22. TWENTY-TWO

**This is where more Rick/Anna comes into play. Also, I want to apologize for not updating the last two Sunday's, I wasn't feeling great the past few weeks and I was quite stressed, but here you go!**

* * *

**TWENTY-TWO:**

The gates slid open with a creaking, and Anna stepped forward unsurely. She was heavily on edge, her hand gripping tighter onto Gareth's knife. It was one of the only things assuring her, and for some odd reason Rick's protectiveness gave her a sense of safety as well.

Aaron led Eric forward, as he was limping, and Adam gestured Anna forward beside him. She wanted to turn and run and he knew it.

What he didn't know was that Anna hated being surrounded by fences-it reminded her of Terminus and the "safe haven" before that. Plus, she didn't know these people, and she certainly didn't know if they wanted to cause her harm. These fences-the whole you don't get in or out without our say so didn't help-made her feel if they were going to turn on her group, they'd most likely be slaughtered.

Perhaps they'd keep Judith, and raise her for their own-with their own ideas, and poison her mind and lie about how she came to be. Anna shivered at that thought; didn't Aaron know she was pregnant? What would this place do with her? Wasn't she a ticking bomb?

Anna ignored the gnawing thoughts, because they were starting to worry her and consume her rationality-something she would _always_ need to cling to.

Both Aaron and Eric walked to the gate and Aaron let Eric go, and he disappeared around the corner. Everyone stopped and waited.

There was a _clang! _of metal next to them, making them all turn quickly, guns aimed-or in Anna's case: her knife hand beside her head and ready to throw the small throwing knife that sat beside Gareth's knife in her belt.

It was just a possum, which Daryl shot with an arrow. Eric pulled the rest of the gate back, and then he and Aaron just stared at the dead possum and Daryl.

Heart beating erratically, Anna put down her hand, but didn't move to put her knife away. She felt safer with it in her hand.

Daryl grabbed the possum by the tail and looked up to meet their gazes, "Brought dinner."

"It's okay," said Aaron, "Come on in, guys."

The group started in, Anna trailing slightly behind her brother and beside Rick. However, she met eyes with Michonne, and wondered briefly if she should catch up and walk beside her. Anna decided against it.

They walked in and the gate closed behind them; and Anna felt even more nervous, her heart beating erratically.

Anna, quite secretly, shielded herself behind her brother and stuffed one of her small throwing knives in the back of her jeans and covered it up with her shirt. Anna looked around, trying to see if anyone noticed, and she caught Rick's small nod at her-so subtle it mostly just looked like an involuntary movement that no one noticed.

"Before we take this any further, I'm going to have to ask you to turn over all of your weapons." a man said to them-whose name was Nicholas-making Anna's dangerous blue slits to meet his eyes.

Anna's heart was beating faster, and her stomach was in knots, nerves bundling uncontrollably. She couldn't lose Gareth's knife-it was all she had left. She couldn't just hand it over-she wouldn't. She felt she'd lose herself if she gave it to them.

It was the one thing that made her feel safe and in not having on her person _at all times_, she felt she would lose her mind. Maybe it wasn't okay for her to feel so attached to an object; maybe she was a bit crazy in relying on it so much, but that did not, in any way, sway her thoughts on losing it.

"To stay, you have to hand them over."

Anna wanted to scream at him and leave, to just walk out of the gate and never look back-at least she would have Gareth's knife. But, this place would be a better place for her child-not to mention her, too-and she had family and people she trusted.

She couldn't throw that all away for a _knife_, but she really, _really_ wanted to.

"We don't know if we want to stay," said Rick, stepping forward.

"It's fine, Nicholas." Aaron reassured.

"If we're gonna use 'em, we would'a started already." Rick told him.

"Let them talk to Deanna first." Aaron told Nicholas.

"Who's Deanna?" Abraham asked, his loud voice carrying.

"She knows everything you'd want to know about this place." Aaron told the group, eyes scanning over them. "Rick, why don't you start."

Rick looked over the group, then behind the gate, were moans were coming from, "Sasha."

Sasha turned to the cause and with practically perfect aim, shot the Walker in the head from a distance that amateurs would have missed from. Anna watched it fall to the ground.

Another fence shut in front of the other one, blocking the view of the road.

"It's a good thing we're here."

* * *

The room was unsettlingly clean, with books neatly placed on the bookshelf and perfectly placed furniture that had not a drop of blood on them. It was a house Anna might have dreamed of having before thing went to hell; and all the pristine white colors made her feel out-of-place and so incredibly dirty.

Anna gripped tighter onto her knife when an older lady walked into the room, Anna guessed it was the Deanna lady.

Deanna had shoulder length dark blonde hair and blue eyes and an aged face. Anna judged her heavily; she didn't look like she could fend for herself if she was attacked, which made Anna feel safer in the room with her.

Anna's chin rose as she stared Deanna square in the eyes; her back straightened and her limbs went rigid and she didn't move a single muscle.

"Hello. I'm Deanna Monroe."

"Anna." she introduced herself, more offhandedly, looking back out the window.

"You mind if I film this?" Deanna asked her.

"Film?" Anna turned back to face the shorter woman, an eyebrow raised.

"You mind if I film our talk?" Deanna asked again, leaning against a comfortable looking chair.

Anna's lips pursed, "No."

Anna turned to the bookcase and started scanning the titles-having been a teacher, she knew some of the books, but others didn't even call her attention.

"Why do you want to film?" Anna wondered, glancing in the corner of her eye to see Deanna turn the camera on that was behind the black couch.

"We're about transparency here," Deanna moved to the couch to sit down, "please."

Deanna was gesturing to an oddly patterned blue and gold chair and with hesitation, Anna sat down. The chair felt odd on her skin-something so clean should have not come in contact with something so dirty.

"So, how long have you been out there?"

Anna glanced at the camera, then to Deanna, "Since the beginning."

"How did you find the others?" Deanna pushed.

"We met at another group." answered Anna, now staring directly at Deanna.

Deanna nodded, "I was a Congressperson. Ohio. Fifteenth District. You?"

Anna figured this lady had been somewhere of high authority, with the way she sat on the couch, her legs crossed and hands on her knee, folded nicely.

"Does it matter?" Anna asked harshly, face hardening for a moment.

"Oh, I know it does." Deanna told her.

Anna frowned, "English teacher. What is this place?"

"This is the start of sustainable." Deanna told her, "That's what the brochures we found say. This was a plan community with its own solar grid-"

"How'd you end up here?" Anna interrupted, not particularly interested in her answer.

Deanna's eyes narrowed at Anna, "My family and I were trying to get back to Ohio, so I could help my District manage the crisis and, uh," she sighed, "the army stopped us on a back road and directed us here. They were supposed to come later. They didn't. _But_, there were supplies here and we made the best of it. I hear from Aaron that you're pregnant, is the father in the group?"

Anna's tongue rolled over her teeth, her eyes squinting and blue irises hardening, "No, died."

"How far along are you?"

"I dunno, two months, give or take."

"I see, did you know each other before all this?"

"No."

"And I noticed your brother was in the group as well, you two been together since the beginning, I'm guessing?"

"No." Anna told her, "You put up those walls yourself?"

Deanna paused, "There was this huge shopping mall being built nearby and my husband, Reg, is a professor of architecture. And who he was _mattered_ quite a bit. He got the first plates up with our sons and after a few weeks more people arrived and we had help." Deanna smiled, "We had a community."

This shocked Anna; they had been protected for so long she doubted they even knew the dangers that were out there. No just Walkers, but the vile humans too-and Anna considered them more dangerous than any Walker.

"You've been behind these walls _this entire time_?" Anna asked, a little bitterly.

"We need people who have lived out there. The group you're with is the first we've even considered taking in for a long time."

"You should keep your gates closed." Anna told her seriously.

"_Why_?"

Anna wanted to tell her the truth, that if you kept letting people like her in, someone was going to get hurt and things were going to get bloody, but instead she told her, "Because it's all about survival now, _at any cost_. People are always looking for an angle, looking to play on your weaknesses. They measure you on what they can _take_ from you. By how they can _use you_ to live. _So_, bringing people into a place like this now-"

"Are you telling me not to let you in? Are you already looking after this place?" Deanna wondered, "Aaron said I could trust you."

"Well, he doesn't know me. I've killed people. And I'll do it again if it means I'm safe and the ones I care about are safe."

"Sounds like I'd want to be someone you'd care about." Deanna nodded, looking at Anna's face. "Anna, I've done things too."

Anna rolled her eyes, "What have _you_ done?"

"I've exiled three men who didn't work out. And we both know that's as good as killing them."

Anna stood abruptly, slightly angry-this woman didn't know how to kill someone, exile didn't even come close to drawing actual blood from a living, breathing person. "What do you want from me?"

Deanna stood and walked over to the window where Anna was, "I want these people to be able to raised their children in a safe environment. I want you to be able to raise your child and let them have a place to grow up. What do _I want_? I want you to help us have a place to survive."

Anna frowned, crossing her arms.

"I get it, you're skeptical. You have the right to be. But just give this place some time. Rick chose to stay, so maybe you should too."


	23. Twenty-Three

**I'm going to be doing a prequel, called **_**bloody vices**_ **and this story will be under a bit of editing. I'm so sorry for the long wait! There will probably be a sequel, called **_**bad blood**_**. And let me know if you're more interested in an eventual Rick / OC or Daryl / OC**

**Reviews are most welcome!**

* * *

**Twenty-Three:**

_{ flashback }_

When she was told about the secret Terminus had, she physically did not react - she remained rather silent. Internally, however, she was sick and mad and scared and wanting to rid all the contents from her stomach.

Jenny, being the smart girl she was, reacted just the same. She had glanced at Anna, needing her guidance - and when Anna's face did not twist with disgust, Jenny forced herself to not show any disapproving actions.

Gareth had been rather pleased by their reactions, and he smiled before officially welcoming them to Terminus - telling them they still had to earn their spot, but they had gotten a spot as a member of Terminus.

When the girls reached their room, they cried silently, wanting desperately to throw up but they did not want to leave any evidence of doing so. They could not afford suspicions.

Anna fell back into her schedule, not daring to let anything become out-of-place - she had to remain as if everything was fine.

"Okay, read up to page one-hundred of The Jungle, please." said Anna to her class that she had twice a week. She tried not to give them too much work, as they had training everyday for a few hours.

Anna quickly gathered up her things, wanting to avoid passing by Gareth on the way to her room. She tried so hard to be polite; to smile and exchange pleasantries and nicely try to leave unless he struck up further conversation. Then she continued fake smiles and pleasant laughs and told him things he wanted to hear.

Back at her room, Jenny met her there - as they shared the room, something Anna requested early on.

"Anna," Jenny started upon entering, quickly closing the door before breaking down.

"I know - I can't do this either, but for now we have to. I'll get us outta here, okay? I will. I will." said Anna in a whisper, "I'll do whatever I have to. I promise. I will."

Jenny nodded but said nothing more, drying her eyes before opening the book. They had about an hour before Jenny had to go to training and Anna usually went to keep herself sharp.

* * *

"Good, very good." Anna commended Jenny, regarding her skill with a knife.

Jenny shrugged, "I don't like this very much."

Anna frowned, "It's the world we live in now. Now, again."

Anna pointed at the target across from them, and Jenny walked over to retrieve the knives she had thrown before.

"Anna." Gareth greeted, coming up next to her.

Anna glanced at him, neutral at first, before forcing a smile, "Hello."

"I'm doing a bit of gun training, do you want to join?" he asked.

Anna pursed her lips, she was not very good with a gun. And perhaps, learning to use one - really learn - then maybe she could keep Jenny and herself safer. She would be better at longer range, and although she hated the loud noise they made, it should be worth it.

"Sure, if you wouldn't mind." Anna said politely, smiling more for the skill gain then at him.

"Okay, let's go."

Anna blinked, but nodded. "Jenny, I'll be gone for a bit, I'll see you at dinner. That okay with you?"

Anna hated having to leave Jenny alone with these monsters but it was her only choice. Jenny had to stay with the other teenagers - not that there were many - and this was only a win for them. Without this necessary skill in this kind of world, how would she keep them alive?


End file.
